Eric Gofreed
Well-Known Member
Looking out my window, I spotted a cedar waxwing perched gracefully amid the fiery berries of a firethorn bush (Pyracantha bush).
Berry Bandit: Cedar Waxwing's Feast
- Thread starter Eric Gofreed
- Start date
Looking out my window, I spotted a cedar waxwing perched gracefully amid the fiery berries of a firethorn bush (Pyracantha bush).
AlanLichty
Moderator
I love the bird but hate the bush. Birds do like the berries and especially when they get overripe and start fermenting. They will eat too many and pretty much get drunk and stagger around until it wears off.
If I could have had a bird like this on the pyracantha thicket I had in Salt Lake City I might have thought differently but I had a 75' property line of those plants that stood about 15' tall and keeping it in check was an annual bloodletting endeavor. It extended almost 15' out into our backyard when we first moved into that house and I bought an electric chainsaw to hack it back to the property line. I kept thinking about the Mayan priests impaling themselves with thorns to appease their rain god Tlaloc during that task and sure enough the following spring (1983) the skies in Salt Lake City cut loose and sent flood waters right through downtown Salt Lake City
If I could have had a bird like this on the pyracantha thicket I had in Salt Lake City I might have thought differently but I had a 75' property line of those plants that stood about 15' tall and keeping it in check was an annual bloodletting endeavor. It extended almost 15' out into our backyard when we first moved into that house and I bought an electric chainsaw to hack it back to the property line. I kept thinking about the Mayan priests impaling themselves with thorns to appease their rain god Tlaloc during that task and sure enough the following spring (1983) the skies in Salt Lake City cut loose and sent flood waters right through downtown Salt Lake City
Eric Gofreed
Well-Known Member
I have three bushes 6 feet from the side of the house and I keep it thinned out... a gardener comes in twice a year and does maintenance on my 1/3 of an acre,I love the bird but hate the bush. Birds like the berries, especially when they get overripe and start fermenting. They will eat too many and pretty much get drunk and stagger around until it wears off.
If I could have had a bird like this on the pyracantha thicket I had in Salt Lake City I might have thought differently but I had a 75' property line of those plants that stood about 15' tall and keeping it in check was an annual bloodletting endeavor. It extended almost 15' out into our backyard when we first moved into that house and I bought an electric chainsaw to hack it back to the property line. I kept thinking about the Mayan priests impaling themselves with thorns to appease their rain god Tlaloc during that task and sure enough the following spring (1983) the skies in Salt Lake City cut loose and sent flood waters right through downtown Salt Lake City
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Trent Watts
Well-Known Member
Nice one Eric.
Alan Milnes
Elite Member
Lovely image of a beautiful bird. They flock in our area in winter and will often descend in large numbers to attack pyrocantha, Saskatoon and junipers to strip them of the berries. Nicely captured Eric.
larryj
Well-Known Member
Beautifully captured Eric, thanks for sharing. We get some birds in our back yard, but they are pretty skittish and don't sit very long in one place.