So my birding buddy Tony D, the other Tony, messages and says he is going up to the Adirondacks to search for some Bohemian waxwings which he needs for a life bird. I tell him swing by and we can go together. He is a master of logistics, planned our Midwest trip last year down to the minute. We did 5 states in 4 days but that's another story. So we head out on a 3 and a half hour trip up to the Adirondack mountains. I am all excited because I had just received my new Nikon Z9 and was itching to get good light and a good subject. We cruise up and go to the spot where they had been seen the previous 3 days. Nothing. well something, it is cold! 4 degrees peering out the windows hoping to get a glimpse. We message the birder that had seen them and he says he will poke around and look in the spots he said they were. He messages back...nope..should have been here yesterday. While we were there a lady comes out of the hardware store and says you looking for the Bohemians? We say yes and she says she had seen them this morning down the road in front of a house. Tony digs into the ebird reports and there is a location, what the heck its on the way home kinda lets go. 30 minutes later and down 7 back roads we are slowly cruising down the street and Tony yells there they are! He hears there calls and we jump out of car and start taking pics like crazy. So cold we have to take warm up breaks in the car. The birds are gorgeous feeding and calling mixing in with the cedar waxwings which are marked infrequent ,lol. I love when it looks like you are about to strike out and boom!!! It makes it all so worthwhile.
True to their name, Bohemian Waxwings wander like bands of vagabonds across the northern United States and Canada in search of fruit during the nonbreeding season. High-pitched trills emanate from the skies as large groups descend on fruiting trees and shrubs at unpredictable places and times. These regal birds sport a spiky crest and a peach blush across their face. Unlike the familiar Cedar Waxwing, they have rusty feathers under the tail and white marks on the wings. - Cornell Lab All About Birds
An estimated 77% of the North American population of Bohemian Waxing breeds in Canada's boreal forest.
7 1/2 -8 1/2" (19-22 cm). A sleek, gray-brown, crested bird. Similar to Cedar Waxwing but larger, grayer, and with conspicuous white wing patches and rusty (not white) undertail coverts.
Because most of its breeding range is in remote and uninhabited regions, most birders only see the species in winter when flocks move south and east across southern Canada and the northern U.S. However, this species forms large winter flocks in the northern United States only about once a decade. Its occasional erratic movements southward in winter are thought to be caused by food shortages in the North. When it appears, it feeds on berries. One hundred or more of these birds perched in the top of a leafless tree in midwinter, calling shrilly, is an unforgettable event. Highly social, Bohemian Waxwings usually move about in tight formations, descending en masse on a clump of bushes and quickly stripping them of fruit. Since such plantings are typically around buildings in cities and towns, large flocks of the species are now often found in urban areas of northern towns. Waxwings seem to be particularly susceptible to pesticides and it is unclear how the widespread application of pesticides to industrial boreal forests will impact Bohemian Waxwing populations.-borealbirds.org
