FLYING AROUND THE FARLEIGHS WITH RAY MORRIS
WAXWINGS
having feasted well and possibly excessively over the festive season you may experience a sense of foreboding if I warn of an imminent irruption. But read that sentence again and relax.
I’m referring to an occasional movement of Waxwings from northern Scandinavia that brings tens of thousands of these spectacular berry-eaters to this country when their native crop has failed, or, a poor crop has simply been exhausted in a year that has seen an unusually successful breeding season. It has happened twice in the last few winters, this being one of them.
The birds usually make landfall on the east coast of Scotland, making their way south – sometimes as far as the West Country – devouring any remaining rowan berries in their path before starting on any pyracantha berries left by the local birds. This year they have reached Kent in good numbers and have been seen in neighbouring villages but not, so far as I am aware, in The Farleighs. But with luck we may see these magnificent birds. Surprisingly our best bet is often large supermarket car parks, or on new, but established, housing estates where the decorative trees and shrubs of choice – rowans, pyracanthas and cotoneasters have been planted to soften the harsh brick, concrete and tarmac surroundings.
Photo: Mark Lopez
A feature of these birds that mark them out as different from the normal species found in northern Europe and the UK is that which gives them their name – they have waxy tips to some of their secondary flight feathers. These are thought to have evolved as a sign of fitness. A healthy bird displays these to signal this; the bright red is created with carotenoids, chemicals they - and humans - require for a robust immune system. As the bird ages, so the number of these waxy tips increase, signalling that the bird in question has survived the elements and is an experienced individual. A good choice as a mate, therefore, to breed with and pass on one’s genes in the resulting young.
Their delightful fluty, whistling call is amplified by their habit of travelling in flocks to strip their chosen tree of its berries. By now, of course, trees are also bereft of leaves making a busy flock easily visible to a passing sparrowhawk looking down through the leafless branches. The waxwings’ multi-primary-coloured wings, though, create a whirr of confusion to baffle the would-be predator. Leaving them to live, to devour our berries and enchant us, for another day!