Date:         Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:22:47 -0400
Reply-To:     Dana Patrick Photography <booking@DANAPATRICK.COM>
Sender:       Georgia Birders Online <GABO-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Dana Patrick Photography <booking@DANAPATRICK.COM>
Subject:      Cedar Waxwings
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi Everyone:

A sad note on the beautiful Cedar Waxwing....I've never had them in the
yard before, except when passing through, stopping just long enough to
decimate the last of the holly berries to the horror of our resident Mockingbird
who has jealously guarded them all winter long.  Then, they return when the
fruits ripen on the Service Berry and mulberry trees.  By that time, poor
Mockingbird is so frazzled, he/she can barely hold up to patrol my 2 acres.

However, this year, I have heard the continuous calls from up high in the front
yard..seems like from the silver maples, but can't be certain. Anyway, I can
tell they are staying this time, much to my delight.  Then, I saw one
on the ground
outside a north facing window.  It's neck was broken and I feel so
terribly bad....
it is amazing how beautiful they really are when you hold one in your hand and
can see all the intricate details of the plumage.  I still hear their
activity up high in
the trees and wonder if there are not babies in the nest.

On a different note, I have a tall, dense pyracantha hedge near the house and
last year a pair of Cardinals built a nest near the top.  They were
right up there for
every hawk circling overhead to see, so using wire fencing, I threaded
pyracantha
limbs thru the fencing and gently laid it across the top of the hedge
to shield the
nest from predators and boiing sun, which worked really well.  THIS
year, I thought
the nest was going to remain empty, until a pair of Brown Thrashers
built a nest right
UNDER the original cardinal's nest.  How clever is that?  They've now
got all the
protection they need!

Mama and Papa birds are raising little ones all over the yard, my
favorite Eastern
Bluebirds in their favorite Peterson's bluebird house, a pair of
Chickadees in another
bluebird abode, our Cardinals, Mockingbirds, a pair of Rufous-sided
Towhees have
a nest near the house, but unsure just where, countless Mourning
Doves, our House
Wrens have fledged already, the hawks have a nest up in the tall pines
(I know this
because a flock of crows is in constant raucous motion until the poor
hawk flies up in
frustration and scatters them in all directions).  The Great Horned
Owls are less vocal now,
it seems to me and the pair of Canadian Geese have returned for the
4th year in a row to
nest atop a neighbor's utility building and a lone female Wild Turkey
is back to visit our
weeping cherry ....and the bushes and trees all around the edges of
the yard and wooded
areas are "alive with the sound of music"...and I'm loving it!

And, of course, our Ruby-Throated Hummers are back and doing their
thing.....how I love
them!  Hope you are all enjoying our feathered friends as much as I am.

Marty Weems
Powder Springs
Paulding County USA

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