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At the rec center this morning, I was greeted by the largest flock of cedar waxwings that I've ever seen. There were hundreds and hundreds of them!!!
These pictures don't even begin to show them all.

And a bit closer.

are you sure those are Cedar Waxwings? i've never seen soooo many and they AREN'T going in every direction at the same time!

Barb, they were facing into what little breeze there was and, luckily, that also meant they were facing into the sun. I've never seen a flock that big in my life. It was truly a marvel.

WoW - that is amazing. I love those birds.....we only get them once in awhile. Always enjoy them when they migrate through. Haven't seen any in a couple of years now.

How lucky you were FFG. Thanks for the photos.

ve

WOW! And I get excited if I have 5 in my yard. Awesome!

Really amazing and great pics! Initially I wondered if they were the Cedar Waxwings that summer here but probably 'mine' fly south on the west side of the continent.

TFS

Oh goodness! What a way to greet the day with a flock like that!
I hope there is enough food in the area to feed all of them!

I generally get a few that will hang around for a week or two in the general area, not just here at our place...but I've also had about 100 roost in a couple of our trees 2 or 3 nights. So fun to watch them.

Beautiful birds! Lucky you FFG. I'm close to Vera and it's rare that I see them. In fact I can count on two fingers. 3 season's ago there were a good twenty or so that were feeding on the ornamental trees and I was able to watch them for a few days. Then I found one that had been injured and didn't make it. I hope I see some this season!

One of my most favorite birds. I would be thrilled to pieces to see them flocked like that. Rarely do I see them, also. They are so distinctive looking...

Lucky, you could indeed have Cedar Waxwings, or you could have the Bohemian Waxwings which are even more colorful. The first time I saw Cedar Waxwings was actually at Smithers, BC in August of 2008.

There are lots of mature holly trees at the rec center, as well as the budding trees, so they should have food for a few days at least. It'll be interesting to see if they hang around. I'll keep you posted.

Wow!!! How wonderful to see that many all together like that! They are one of my fave birds too but I've never seen that many together! Thanks for sharing them with us here. Feel free to share them over at the other place too.

WOW, what a neat photo! Do they all chirp at the same time and make a lot of noise? Because last weekend we had about 50-60 birds high in a pine tree (too high to tell what they were) all chirping at the same time, it was incredibly loud. I had to go get DH so he could hear, it sounded like ladies night out at a male review! LOL!

What a joy to behold! Lucky YOU!!! TFS

z9lady -- yes, they do chirp but their call is a very, very high pitched one. It is immediately identifiable and mostly you'll hear them before you see them. 'Course in this case, you couldn't miss them!!!

Go to this link and then play the sounds for the Flock.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...Cedar_Waxwing/sounds

Just imagine that many birds calling at once.

Ok, I tried to count the ones in your second pic, the close up...I got 126...but i'm sure I'm off by a few one way or the other.
THAT'S A LOTTA BIRDS IN JUST ONE TREE!!!!!!!!!!

THAT WAS IT! I swear it sounded just like that. I listened to the flock call on the link you posted....it was unmistakable. I just don't know that much about birds, thanks for identifying them.

Today, the huge flock was gone but I did see a group of about 30 fly over. My backyard is busy today, what with birds and squirrels. Robins are here. I see cardinals, house finch, red bellied woodpecker and chipping sparrows right now. Needless to say, I get real distracted by the activity outside my window and don't get a lot of sewing done.

FFG, early this morning before the rain set in...about 7:30am, there was a small flock that flew by here...they were headed NE, like maybe headed to see Toots. There were probably about 25-30 in that flock.

awesome pictures.. you were in the right place at the right time. what a thrill it must have been to see so many.

and i'll take your word for the count, gakaren. it makes me cross-eyed to try and count them.

the only time they've visited my yard was many years ago.. think it was winter.. and they got drunk on the pyracantha berries. oh my, what a chatter. it was so funny and fun to listen to them.