Mystery Bird

Our friend, Carmel, and I had been listening to a particular bird for a few days, trying to figure out who it was.

“It’s a Robin,” Carmel said.

“I don’t think so,” I said. (Sorry, Carmel 😁) “It sounds more like a Finch to me. It’s song rises at the end.”

We scanned the trees, trying to find the singing bird. Finally, we saw it.

Mystery bird. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with TAMRON SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 A022, handheld, 1/500 sec., f/7.1, ISO 4000. Trout Creek, Montana.

eBird Plus identified the picture of the bird as 73% likely a Warbling Vireo. I prefer a higher certainty (don’t we all?) so I wanted to get more pictures – especially with a view of the wings.

Later, Katherine was sitting near a window. “Oh, I think I see your bird!”

I hurried out to the deck with my camera. I did not see the small, singing bird, but I did see a beautiful Cedar Waxwing.

Cedar Waxwing. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with TAMRON SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 A022, handheld, 1/500 sec., f/7.1, ISO 4000. Trout Creek, Montana.
Cedar Waxwing. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with TAMRON SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 A022, handheld, 1/500 sec., f/7.1, ISO 4000. Trout Creek, Montana.

I had hoped it was a Bohemian Waxwing — I’ve never seen one — but eBird identified it as a Cedar Waxwing. Still, it was a fun find.

Speaking of fun, here’s a Fun Fact from Wikipedia: Cedar Waxwings can get intoxicated if they eat overripe fruit that has begun to ferment. (I think that can happen to other fruit-eating birds, also.)

Meanwhile, back to our mystery bird…

We thought we saw it at the top of a pine a couple of days later. I took pictures but it was pretty far away. That bird looked like it had wing bars, which I didn’t see in the picture of the Vireo.

Carmel listened to an audio of the Warbling Vireo and she thinks that could be it our mystery bird. If any of my readers have a suggestion regarding the mystery bird’s identification, please comment below! Thanks!

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