Wonderful waxwing invasion (From Smallholder)

Wonderful waxwing invasion

12:00pm Sunday 20th November 2011 in Conservation

Every so often in Britain during winter we have an invasion of waxwings. The waxwing is one of the most beautiful birds imaginable with super-soft plumage, a wonderful crest and adorable colouring throughout. It is one of those birds that all birdwatchers love to find and last winter we had a large influx.

In fact the invasion began early last winter with many birds being spotted during October. You may remember that waxwings hit the newspapers and autumnwatch when a family published photos of their son with waxwings sitting on a stick which he was holding. Those waxwings were so tired and hungry that they even sat on his head in return for a bite of an apple. Typical of other invasion years the lion’s share of sightings were along the east coast of Britain with many in Scotland as far north as Shetland. As time progressed and more birds arrived they moved gradually westwards and southwards, this movement particularly encouraged by the very cold spell of weather we had during late November.

Waxwings generally over-winter in Scandinavia and it is thought that they only feel it necessary to make the risky flight over the North Sea if the crop of berries, which make up most of their winter diet, fails to materialise. In late October last year I found myself visiting relatives in York, a city which had its fair share of waxwings so I made the most of my time watching waxwings in Yorkshire but what I was secretly hoping for was a waxwing on our smallholding back in Cornwall for Christmas.

I knew the odds were against me. Cornwall is probably the least visited county in Britain for waxwings. I remember seeing one in Helston, Cornwall, about fifteen years ago but that was it. I had been trying to improve my chances by planting lots of berry-bearing bushes. My garden is pyracantha heaven and we have holly, rowan, hawthorn, privet and cotoneaster to name but a few. Our trip to York ended and we headed back for Cornwall. Not a single waxwing had yet been sighted in the county but my hopes were high because the invasion of 2010 was much larger than I could remember.

I kept a close eye on the bird reports around the country during November and into December and finally we had good news, a few waxwings had made it down to the far south west. The strange thing about waxwings is that they turn up in the most unlikely of places. They are regularly seen in supermarket car parks, around industrial estates or hospitals and the simple reason is that there tends to be a good variety of berry bearing bushes planted in these places as ground cover between parking bays. So the first waxwing I went to look for in Cornwall was on an industrial estate in Wadebridge, unfortunately it had gone the night before I got there. Initially when waxwings arrive in Britain they do tend to be flighty. They move around continually and this can be frustrating to the would-be waxwing watcher but as the winter progresses they gather in flocks where there is an abundant supply of food and stay until it is all eaten. They don’t just eat berries, last autumn when they first arrived it was still quite mild and I watched them flying out from the tree-trops to catch insects.

So, I had ‘dipped’ on my first Cornish waxwing but next time I was struck gold. This time it was a housing estate on the main by-pass around Penzance. The waxwing that I caught up with was feeding on privet berries next to a very busy road.

Passers-by stopped to ask what we were looking at and were all captivated by this beautiful bird.

Look closely at the waxwing and you see why it got its name. The tips of the secondary feathers, along the middle part of the wing, have red waxy appendages. These feathers look as if they have been dipped in red sealing wax and that’s why they are called ‘wax-wings’. The yellow wing and tail tips are striking and black markings around the face create a distinctive appearance for this starling-sized bird. Unfortunately, though I did get to see a waxwing in Cornwall at Christmas-time, I didn’t see one on our smallholding, that treat will have to wait for another year. However there is every chance that you might see one on your smallholding if you have berries, particularly if you live in the north or east of the country and the chance is obviously greater if you live next to an industrial estate!

Keep up to date with recent bird sightings around the country at birdguides.com.