There are plenty of ornamental crab apple trees in our small city of Orillia as well as a large number of mountain ash trees.  As a result of this bounty of fruit, we are privileged to have frequent visits during the winter by Waxwings and now overwintering American Robins.  My neighbours mountain ash tree had American Robins visit a few times each week and always when I wasn’t home.

I must admit that I was spoiled last winter with the abundance of Bohemian Waxwings in the Orillia area and I was looking forward to their visits here again this year.  One of my favourite images of Bohemian Waxwings proudly adorns the cover of my 2012 calendar.  I learned some interesting facts about the Bohemian Waxwing from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, allaboutbirds.org  The name Bohemian refers to its nomadic lifestyle, always on the move in search of the fruits that are available for only short periods of time.  The other fun fact is that it does not have a true song since it doesn’t have any real territory to hold or defend.

I keep close watch on bird sightings on the local nature boards, which are listed on my links page.  Every now and then, a small flock of Bohemians would be sighted in Huntsville, Gravenhurst and Bracebridge but never in Orillia and we have a very active birding community here.

When I learned that the Bohemians were finally sighted I headed out to locate them.  I was truly amazed when I discovered the flock and that it was over 200 strong, some estimates of at least 300 birds.  I was able to stay in my car with a beanbag as a camera support and click away.  I am quite embarrassed to admit it took a few minutes for me to realize that the flock wasn’t just Bohemians but Cedar Waxwings as well!  I just wish I had brought more than one 8GB card!