Wild Beijing 北京自然

Going Japanese

Written by

Terry Townshend

in

After a tip-off from Jesper about some Japanese Waxwings in the Summer Palace, I spent a couple of hours there on Saturday afternoon.  Eventually, after dodging the crowds to get to the north-west corner of the park, I discovered a mixed flock of Waxwings in a quiet corner.  Unusually, Japanese outnumbered Bohemian by about 4 to 1.  They were very loyal to a couple of ‘leylandii’-type trees, to which they frequently flew down to feed before flying up to some tall poplars to preen, rest and eat a little of the snow that had fallen overnight.

Despite the very overcast conditions, I was able to capture a few pleasing images.

Japanese Waxwings, Summer Palace, Beijing, 26 February 2011. Note the pale belly, bright pink tip to the tail and fiery-orange undertail coverts.
The black on the back of the crest can be seen well on the bottom left bird.

Japanese Waxwing take-off


Japanese Waxwing: close up of the wing and tail patterns

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Comments

8 responses to “Going Japanese”

  1. Norm Farrell

    Wow, Terry!

    Omedito Gozaimasu (Congratulations!!)

    What an absolute pleasure those photographs are! ( And one of the benefits of that soooo cold winter you’re having! )

    I didn’t get out today, so this has been my “fix”.

    Best and thanks!

    Norm

    Reply
  2. Norm Farrell

    And p.s.

    I meant to say that the kind of waxwing we have in the States is a Cedar Waxwing, and they would be right at home in the tree you pictured (perhaps a kind of Juniper as is the so-called Red Cedar in the eastern U.S.)

    You are lucky to have Jesper so close to steer you to such finding (waxwings if not junipers).

    Best,
    Norm

    Reply
  3. Norm Farrell

    ( Sorry – I correct myself before someone else does it. It’s “omedeto”, not “omedito”. )

    N.

    Reply
    1. terrytownshend

      Thanks Norm..! There is a good article on 10,000 birds about how to separate Bohemian from Cedar. You can see it at: http://10000birds.com/cedar-waxwing-vs-bohemian-waxwing.htm

      Now if only a Cedar found its way into one of the flocks currently around Beijing…. 🙂

      Reply
      1. Norm Farrell

        Ask Jesper if he can’t arrange it :-)))

        N.

  4. Josie Rocek

    Just lovely. The are a bit prettier than our Cedar Waxwings here in the states. But then again I find all birds quite magnificent. Cheers!

    Reply
  5. Norm Farrell

    Terry!

    Have you seen?? There’re so many waxings now that you can’t see the Great Wall!

    Norm

    Reply
  6. terrytownshend

    Ha ha.. Yes, they are everywhere….! Four still in Ritan Park this morning and Jesper reported 100+ still at the Summer Palace.

    Thought the blog header needed freshening up so this image of waxwings will stay for a while..

    Reply

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