waxwings

I was very eager to see Waxwings this winter. My last and only sighting came in February 1996 when two were near my home in Hungerford, Berkshire. I made a number of sketches of this pair, but with news coming in of Waxwings moving into the west country I became increasingly anxious about missing the chance to observe and sketch them. I decided not to join the hoards of birdwatchers watching the big flocks in Bristol and Gloucester. Instead I held the hope that if the invasion was as big as estimates suggested, eventually they would come to me!

On the 23rd January they did just that. As I went out at dawn to feed our hungry Goldfinches I was greeted by a familiar trilling noise- 11 Waxwings in the top of a birch next to our garden! This was a brief but lovely view as they soon flew east. I made some sketches from memory, but I didn’t have to wait long for my next views. After a tip off from a friend I found myself driving to the centre of Trowbridge, Wiltshire on 27th January. Immediately the sound of Waxwings struck me and there in a plane tree by the car park was a flock of about 150. I started making sketches straight away oblivious to the bustle of cars and people around me- as often happens I had a very strong feeling of having to make the most of the encounter in case I didn’t have another chance. I found a quieter place to sketch them at the top of a nearby multi storey car park which placed me at tree top level with the flock. When the flock flew, being so high up I was able to see where it settled, so I packed up my gear and headed for the rear of Asda’s Trowbridge store! When I arrived the Waxwings had started to descend to a gutter on the back of the store to drink and bath. There were clearly more birds than before. I managed to photograph most of the flock for an accurate count of 255 birds but there was another flock nearby and I was confident that the total number of Waxwings that lunchtime was very near to 300.

Again I found myself sketching and photographing at great speed, this time in an office car park. These delightful birds had caught the attention of office workers who were clustered round the window closest to the flock, and they must have had spectacular views.

I returned on the 28th January to find the flock reduced in size to about 90 but managed to have more great views as they fed on rowan berries. They were there again on the 29th. After three days of waxwing sketching I had to start focussing on other species! But I made another trip to Trowbridge on February 7th and saw about 100. On this day they were feeding on small insects above the trees, making graceful aerial sorties to do so.

I felt so lucky to spend so much time enjoying these rare visitors so close to home, but even more sightings were to come, even closer to home! I saw four more flocks from our house- 50 on 22/2/05 in a hawthorn tree,11 on 27/2/05 feeding on rowan berries in the village, 50 on 2/3/05 very puffed up in a snow shower and a spectacular 175 trilling away in a nearby oak tree on 4/3/05.

The winter of 2004/5 shall forever remain in my mind for the time I spent enjoying Waxwings and even the very urban locations in which I saw them. Sketching in such busy places often draws attention and I chatted to many people who wouldn’t normally have stopped to look at birds. Watching people smile on seeing their first Waxwings through my scope made my time sketching in the centre of Trowbridge a very pleasurable, and unusually sociable experience.