Waxwing: Today was my first day back at work since Christmas and as I was carrying out a winter bird survey near Maghull, I thought I would treat myself to a post-survey twitch and check out the Waxwing that have been hanging around Coronation Park for the last week or so.
As soon as I parked up I could see a small gaggle of birders looking up in to a Rowan tree, so I headed over where eight birds were happily feeding on the last of the berries.
I've seen tons of Waxwing but never a flock so confident, these birds were hanging in trees with dogs walking underneath, traffic passing by and even me pointing my lens at them.
These birds were remarkably placid and put on a great show in near perfect light.
For me it's not only their striking personalities and the fact that they tend to turn up on supermarket car parks and suburban gardens. This is because of the abundance of berry-bearing shrubs planted to decorate the open spaces. But also their stunning plumage of crimson red feathers on their wings which look like drops of sealing wax.
Waxwings turn up so frequently in supermarket car parks that they have become one of birdwatching's most talked about phenomenons and one I look forward to seeing annually.
Starling: It wasn't just the Waxwing enjoying the last of the Autumn bounty, there were plenty of Blackbirds, Starling and even Chaffinch tucking into the Rowan berries.
There weren't many berries left on the trees so if you particularly want to see this flock I would go soon before they move on to better feeding areas.
