An article in the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper today highlighted a recent phenomenon that has been occuring on the west side of town. Straight out of a Hitchcock movie, thousands upon thousands of birds have been soaring in and congregating among the tree-tops, making their presence known through sight and sound (and through other birdly means, if you happen to be the unlucky one walking underneath at congregation time).The birds seem to come in two waves: 4:30 p.m. brings the (yellow-bellied) cedar waxwings (pictured here). Small flocks will arrive and their constituents will find any and all open tree branches. Like cars in a bustling parking lot, no tree branch is left unoccupied for long - as quickly as one posse of birds flaps away, empty branches are filled by new flocks flying in for a brief stop-over.
(click to enlarge)Cedar trees are apparently the ideal bed-and-breakfast for these birds, with all of the modern aviary amenities: comfortable branches, great views, and a continental cedar berry breakfast before their pre-dawn red-eye flight out of town.
The news story caught my attention as a good photo opportunity. I hesistated a little bit, because 1) the article already displayed pictures of its own, and 2) it seemed to scream out, "hey everyone, come take a picture of this!" I don't know what the photography equivalent of an "ambulance chaser" is, but it seems like a moniker I might try to avoid in general.
Thinking I should get some shots from unique angles, I moved to the base of the tree and aimed the camera upwards for a little while - that is, until I heard the sound of raindrops falling, and then noticed the clear blue sky, and then pieced it all together:"Those aren't raindrops.
...I'm outta here."
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