I love the look of waxwings. They'd make a great model for an avian masked comic-book hero. I've been keeping my eye out for them this winter and have spotted them 4 times since November. It appears this group likes to sun themselves on a couple tall sycamore trees along the Casa del Oro Garden. If you weren't paying attention to their chattery flock calls, they'd be easy to miss from a distance because they look a lot like dried leaves that haven't fallen off the tree. I had to laugh when an Historic Garden League volunteer grumpily pointed out how much their seedy poop makes a mess on the sidewalk below, especially since I was just thrilled to be lucky enough to see them. The flock is easily frightened to flight even with a horn honk. It was somehow reassuring to read from several sources that cedar waxwings look a lot like starlings in flight, because that was my first thought when I saw them flow around in the air as a group. I'm going to keep my eye on nearby toyon and pyracantha shrubs in the coming months. The berries are plump and red but still untouched. Maybe they're not ripe enough for the waxwings?
