Finally!  Around 2 weeks ago we started to see our first Cedar Waxwings of the spring.  Often we see waxwings alongside the robins before the robins leave, but not this year.  I was starting to wonder if we were going to get any waxwings this year, when small flocks appeared in the neighborhood and started circling overhead.  You hear the Cedar Waxwings before you see them.  I got a few (heavily cropped) flight shots…

Excited by my success with putting out pretty perches for the American Goldfinches, I tried a new tactic to photograph my Painted Buntings.  They love to land on my Wild Birds Unlimited decorative perches that attach to my bird feeder stations.  So why not put a real branch there instead of the decorative perch?

I thought a natural perch would be a big hit.  It was!  They like the cover of my firebush and backyard hedges, but they also seem to like to perch on a branch before they hop to the feeder.  So all I had to do was make sure the branch had a photogenic background. ;-)

Here’s one last shot of my American Goldfinches before they left us for the year.  They loved to perch high in my purple firespike plant.  The buntings love that plant, too.   My head is full of ideas for adding more natural salvias and other bird-friendly areas to my yard for next spring. :)

Today is Goldy and Missy’s 15th birthday!  A very happy birthday to our resident feline ornithologists and window-watchers.