Nesting Cedar Waxwings – Photographing Them Is A Challenge

Cedar Waxwing in Summit County, Utah – Nikon D500, f8, 1/1000, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I’ve been photographing nesting Cedar Waxwings and I have to say that it tests my skills and is a true challenge because of the light, how quickly these birds move and the cluttered habitat.

The Cedar Waxwings are building their nest in a hawthorn, the bright leaves plus the dead sections of the tree presents their own difficulties but typically this pair of waxwings fly directly into the nest with great speed and spend very little time out in the open. I noticed that on occasion they do perch out in the open after taking nesting materials to the nest. But the setting can be cluttered as shown in the photo above.

Cedar Waxwing perched on a Hawthorn – Nikon D500, f8, 1/1250, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

There were a few times yesterday morning when the clutter was minimal and I appreciated the birds perching in those locations, especially when there wasn’t much in the way of obstructions in front of the birds.

Adult Cedar Waxwing tilting it head – Nikon D500, f8, 1/640, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

The bright leaves, shadowed parts of the hawthorn were also a challenge because of tricky exposures. I had to decrease my exposure for this image because of the bright parts of the background but I think it worked nicely for this image.

Cedar Waxwing in a Hawthorn – Nikon D500, f8, 1//800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

There were a few times I took images that might have had more vegetation in the frame than I would have liked. This image might be a little “busy” for some people’s tastes but I loved the pose of the bird.

Cedar Waxwing with nesting material in its bill – Nikon D500, f8, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Most of the images I took where the waxwings had nesting materials in their bill were complete disasters because of branches or leaves being in the way which is why I appreciated this one opportunity to have the bird out in the open with nesting material in its bill even though the background is a tad cluttered.

Adult Cedar Waxwing perched out in the open – Nikon D500, f8, 1/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I wish this waxwing would have had nesting materials but this was taken after the bird had delivered materials to the nest and seemed to be taking a short break.

Cedar Waxwing camouflage – Nikon D500, f8, 1/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Finding Cedar Waxwings isn’t easy because they blend into their habitat so well as they did with the hawthorn tree they have chosen to build their nest in. More often than not I hear Cedar Waxwings before I see them and when I hear them I stop and carefully look around. From a distance the bird in this photo might not be visible to some people at all.

I hope to photograph this pair of waxwings more in the future. As an FYI, I was at a distance equal to being across the road from this hawthorn and using a long lens with a teleconverter, I would never get closer than that. Lately I have seen a ton of nest images on social media lately where I know people had to get right up to the nest to take their photographs. I don’t do that and won’t do that for the safety of the eggs, chicks and birds.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Cedar Waxwing photos plus facts and information about this species.

PS: I am having a visual migraine this morning and have “holes” in my field of vision, if I have made typing or grammatical mistakes I will try come back later and fix them.