Townsend’s Solitaire and Cedar Waxwing
Townsend’s Solitaire Myadestes townsendi, Homer, 7 December 2009.
Townsend’s Solitaires are uncommon to rare breeders at treeline on the Kenai Peninsula. They are rare and erratic winter visitors to Homer. This individual has been frequenting chokecherries and mountain ash trees on Fernwood since at least 3 December.
Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum, Seaside Farms, Homer, 5 December 2009.
This hatch-year Cedar Waxwing was one of two present at Mossy’s Seaside Farm on 5 December. She’s seen up to six Cedars in her fruit trees, usually with a flock of American Robins, sporadically since mid-September. Cedar Waxwings are relatively new arrivals to the Homer list. The first reports for Homer came from the winter of 2004-2005; they have since occurred in small numbers nearly annually in the fall and winter.
Other frugivores currently in Homer include Homer’s first record of Mountain Bluebird present since 18 November and still present on 7 December, and hundreds of American Robins and Bohemian Waxwings. What will be next?
