Waxwing lyrical part 39 - this could be it.

I managed a bit of a lie in yesterday morning but I was still up quite early as I can't seem to shake the habit. I didn't see any Waxwings before going to work so it looks like the last few have now gone. There were only three in the garden on Wednesday and they were last seen at 8pm. I managed to get a few photos in the evening as I suspected it could be the last time I would see them. The tree they were feeding in was shaded by the house but the trees in the background were lit by the setting sun which made for difficult lighting conditions.

The last 3 are in here. Photo taken 19:58hrs 08/05/13



One last bite.



"до свидания"

As alert as ever.

Now we seem to have reached the end I would like to thank those who have donated apples or money so I could see this through to its natural conclusion. At peak it was costing around £25 each day in apples and the support at that time made it more affordable so a big thank you to you all. It also means the data accumulated is all the more valuable as food supply has not been a limiting factor to the numbers recorded. The graph below shows how the number of Waxwings has declined from its peak as birds have left for their breeding grounds.



The decline in the number of Waxwings recorded.

This will not be the last Waxwing lyrical post but any future posts are likely to be few and far between. There will be a round-up of the ringing totals and all the controls in due course along with a review in pictures. At some point there could be some interesting recoveries to report and then there is the retrap data to look at especially the weight increases as the birds prepared to migrate.

Anyway I hope you have enjoyed these posts over the past 3 months.