This is bird note.

A light dusting of snow whitens the hillsides along the Columbia River,

a quiet backdrop to scores of apple orchards. the frozen and thawed again and again.

Suddenly, a flock of hundreds of birds rises from the ground beneath the apple trees

swarming in tight formation wing-tip to wing-tip.

The flock lifts and perches in orderly ranks in the top of a nearby

poplar. These are bohemian waxwings, occasional visitors during the winter down from their

nesting grounds in the boreal forests of the north.

Their nomads come in search of fruit to sustain their winter wanderings.

Bohemian waxwings, larger kin of cedar wax wings, are exquisite with silken plumage, a jaunty crest, black mask, and wings

daubed as if with ceiling wax in red, yellow, white, and black.

Add to this a tail dipped in yellow and you have a bird that seems to have

sprung from a painter's palate. Quickly the flock is off again. Swirling up

the canyon to adorn the winter branches of another orchard.

For Bird Note, I'm Mary McCann.

Bird Notes newsletter delivers the wonder and joy of birds directly to your inbox.

Sign up at birdnote.org to get a weekly preview of our shows, stories, photos, and more.