BANNER MOUNTAIN GIRL # 50 cedar waxwing

This cedar waxwing visited my yard today and drank water from the pan. A small group of cedar waxwings come by now and then, but they don’t stay long. They are unique in the way they are dressed so smoothly in drab colors highlighted by red and yellow feathers at the tip of the wings and tail. The black stripe around the eyes looks like a mask. Some people call this bird “bandit.”  I never saw cedar waxwings on Banner Mountain when I was a child.  I love watching them now when they fly in to visit a while and I feel lucky when they pose for a photograph.      — Freeda Baker Nichols