Fall set in nicely this morning. After a day of storms in what's been an unusually wet year, the morning was cool and gray and dank. The yard is full of berries, many of which appeared this summer. Nannyberries, Cockspur Hawthorne, Black Chokeberry, and Red Twig Dogwood in the front yard. Washington Hawthorne, Black Chokeberry, Pagoda Dogwood (mostly eaten at this point), Allegheny Serviceberry (totally gone by mid summer), and Highbush Cranberry in the back.
Northern Flicker foraging on the ground
Birds abound. We first noticed fall migration when in early September Northern Flickers took up residence in the neighborhood, making regular trips to forage in our yard. Unlike most woodpeckers, the Flickers don't seek out their meals in the trees above. They move somewhat awkwardly on the ground hunting for insects. If seen from the side, they may appear a drab brown, but in flight, golden yellow feathers are revealed as is a snow white rump. Flickers were present this morning in the back along with the usual suspects: House Finches, House Sparrows, American Goldfinches, and Black Capped Chickadees.
The front yard revealed two visitors of particular interest falling in and out of the Nannyberry bushes. Their flight was some what disjointed. We were surprised to see two juvenile Cedar Waxwings in the yard. We were aware of the Northern Cardinals who successfully nested, and we had seen 3 young cardinals foraging in the yard before. We watched Robin's fledge in the late spring but immature Waxwings were new. Could there have been a nest in the bushes or the nearby Oak which we were unaware of?
One of the Cedar Waxwings hiding under our bushes.
Our assumption was that perhaps like the Cardinals who only recently fledged that maybe these youngsters were late in the season fledglings, perhaps still learning to fly. We've heard and seen the large flock of Waxwings in the neighborhood. They frequent the bright orange-ish red berries of a neighbor's Showy Mountain Ash each fall. We left for a planned engagement; the Waxwings were hiding under the Nannyberry bushes when we left. We returned 2 hours later to find that both birds had died. Both on the ground under the bushes.
I can't say for certain how long they'd been out there in the gray and wet weather, perhaps since the morning or maybe they'd struggled all night in the rain. We'd initially thought to leave them be in hiding under the bushes like we would have done for a Robin fledgling, and now I'm left to wonder if that was the correct call. In doing some googling, it seems more likely that these young birds may have been intoxicated and may have perished from exposure or alcohol poisoning.
In our 8 years living here, I think I've retrieved 4 dead birds; two House Finches before this and now two young Waxwings. Death is also part of nature. And so in supporting a host of wildlife, occasionally things will die too. There's a fine line in knowing when human interference is helpful and when it is not. Without a necropsy I can't say exactly what happened to these birds, but the situation did start a conversation with my three year old about what exactly dead is.
I placed the Waxwings in the compost, lying them next to each other and then took a walk through the yard. Other fall visitors had arrived. Our Asters are full of bees today, a Painted Lady Butterfly has stopped by as well. The coneflowers in the back were busy with Goldfinch activity and a Common Yellowthroat pair hunted for insects just below where the finches fed.
Female Common Yellowthroat back by our coneflower.
Warblers passing back through the yard is a sure sign that fall migration is in full swing. I typically encounter the Yellowthroats in the local marshes during the summer; if they are in my yard then they've since left the wetlands and are back on the move. They'll soon be back in Mexico or Central America, and instead our yard will have visitors from Canada for the winter.
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