POTD 24Jan11, originally uploaded by andyskelton-a Blog a day http://andrewskelton.net.
Here’s the best of the bunch taken at the weekend of the visiting Waxwings, and whilst I’m not that enamoured with it, the experience photographing these birds was invaluable.
I’ve read many places that these gregarious birds are rather friendly and tolerate human presence with some hungry birds actually taking food out of a person’s hands. This hasn’t been my experience on the three occurrences I’ve seen them. In each case the birds have darted to a berry laden tree and then after having consumed several fruit, flown back to their loft vantage point.
Watching them do this, they did seem to favour specific branches and trees, presumable ones that ensure that they can make a quick get away if need be. Patience is needed at this point, setting the gear up and getting the birds used to you presence, however the wind was so cold that I only lasted a short duration in one spot before beating a hasty retreat to a warm coffee shop. Still I now know what I need to do when I return and hopefully with good strong lighting and plenty of layers, I’ll finally achieve the photos I’m aiming for. So it’s good night from him, and it’s good night from me.
Andrew Skelton: 
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