It was Sunday and I had work to do before Monday. I decided that I wouldn't go out taking photos: I'd be a good boy and stay home until the work was done. The weather was supposed to be rainy, anyway. I woke up early and did a little bit of work, but then I got sleepy and so I went back to bed.

Well, around noon I was woken by the telephone. It was my friend Len, and he was calling with the news that Rob had found a Bohemian Waxwing out at Maplewood Flats. I was torn, because I'd never seen a Bohemian before, but I needed to get work done. I putzed around at home for a while, but then I couldn't stand it any more and I headed out to see if I could find the bird.

The weather turned better than expected, and I arrived at Maplewood to find birders Len, Dian, and Colin all lined up on a path near the southwest corner of the reserve, watching the bird. It was in the top of a tree, but from time to time it had been coming down to eat berries from some branches right beside the path. Anyhow, I took a few long shots, none of which ended up turning out. A couple of minutes later, the waxwing came down to the berries, and everyone got good looks and, hopefully, good photos. It turns out that Bohemian Waxwings are gorgeous, having absolutely vivid color. I was stunned. Have a look at this beauty.

He didn't seem to mind all the people a couple of meters away from him. He just went about his berry-picking business.

Soon, though, he had exhausted the berries there. The last I saw of him, he was hailing a taxi to go back to the main road: "Hey, taxi!!!!"

That had been awesome. It had made me behind on my work, but I was very happy that I'd gone out to see this bird. He was a lifer and quite the looker. He also wasn't camera-shy. What a treat!

It turns out that Bohemian Waxwings aren't all that rare in British Columbia; they just don't frequent the Vancouver area. We get reports of one or two a year, it seems. Around this time of year, though, Bohemians are supposed to be quite common in the Nicola valley, which is about a two- or three-hour drive east. They're also supposed to be plentiful in the Okanagan.

After the waxwing flew off, I briefly looked around for other subjects. The only one that I found was Ricky.

Ricky is a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It turns out that all of 'em are named Ricky. Go figure.

Czeching out the good birds,
Tom