Monday 14 February 2011

I've been diagnosed with W.O.S.

It was no surprise to me when this weekend my specialist confirmed I'd got W.O.S. (Waxwing Obsession Syndrome - You are powerless to resist going to see them over and over again).What was a bit of a surprise when he said that there was no known cure.

W.O.S. manifested itself again this morning when having stayed in yesterday and had had a poor day out with the camera on Saturday I needed to go out and get some shots I chose to go to Meriden yet again for the Waxwings.

Parked up at 9.00AM in bright sunshine but by the time I got to the bridge low clouds had raced in and made it very gloomy.They were not around but I was confident they would turn up eventually as they have been very reliable since Nic Barlow first found them way back in December and I've been lucky enough to see them several times.

50 of them suddenly turned up at 9.30AM and roosted in one of their usual trees right along the A45.Here is a shot showing them close to the main road and another showing them on a distant tree some 300 metres from the road.




They were very flighty this morning as you can see with these attempts at flight shots.






They flew off at 10.15AM so I went to the nearby Marsh Lane for a quick look round.I searched for a Stonechat that had been seen earlier but failed so just as I was thinking of heading back home for a coffee W.O.S. kicked in again and I headed back to Meriden once more.

No sign at first but they soon appeared again this time feeding on the berry bushes either side of the Coventry slip road.What cracking birds they are.Here are some close ups.






2 comments:

Pete Walkden said...

I seem to have the same thing, but with owls... and they usually involve a huge drive to see them. Lovely shots - do you know if they're still around? Might brave the rain at the weekend for them.

Max Silverman said...

Pete.I think they might have moved on but there are still some berries left.Let's hope they come back.