Wax Now Out

Okay, I’ve decided to try and look on the bright side of this pandemic crap.  Now that I am unofficially officially retired.  I’ve decided to try out a bit of optimism.  Not that I consider myself a pessimist by any means – more of a realist.  Sometimes when things are brown and ugly.. you gotta call it crap, pure and simple.  Covid-19 is crap, no way around it – but it has made one American tradition a LOT more civilized.  Yes, I am talking about Black Friday.  The annual day where capitalism and frugality duke it out at the cost of all human decency and altruism.  Admittedly, as a person who truly enjoys studying behaviors both in society and out in the wild, Black Friday nationwide petri dish treasure trove. Pick some strategic locations (number 1 being Home Depot as they pass out donuts and drinks to those standing in their line) and then stay up all night until 4am and rush out to stand in line while your wife hangs out in the car or RV at the back of the lot.  Breakfast, a show and if there happens to be some really good item I don’t have to lose my humanity for, then bonus.  I’ve seen it all, screaming matches, toy tug-o-war, adult fights, adults getting trampled, kids getting trampled, trips, falls, my wife walking briskly up to me with a hot sale item in her hand telling me we have to head for the checkouts immediately … will leave that story right there ha.  All good blog fodder for the other flagship Intrigued blog.  Not sure what the standard behavior is other countries – just assumed this is just a US stigma.  Regardless – the pandemic has accelerated a new era for Black Friday – one more focused on sitting in your most comfortable living room chair and dancing down the aisles with a mouse and keyboard.  I suspect that the emergency room visits outside of Covid cases plummeted this season as a result – maybe some carpal tunnel or extra eye strain cases, but those shouldn’t take up precious ER beds.  So there you have it – the pandemic has brought more civility to the US – who would have guessed that could have happened.  Then there is the benefit of successfully ending the concept of hugs which I’m all for!!! Yikes, my intro got away from me today.  The good news is the animal wildlife part (not the above wild human part) is more of a picture than a word post.  You might recognize today’s featured feathered friend.

No, your browser cache is not acting up and bringing in images from the last post.  Over the past 13+ years, this might be the first time I’ve featured the exact same bird species in back to back posts.  I try to be a bit more creative for my readers.  However, in this special case, I wanted to follow-up on a missing element from the last post.

Hit the jump for an explanation of the deja-vu

I hated to leave you hanging related to such a key feature of the Cedar Waxwing.  Not being able to show the waxed wings is like featuring a shot of the Ring-Necked Duck and not showing the ring – oh, wait, that wasn’t my fault (link here).  B across the pond took the time to look through his cache and found one that showed the waxy red tips on a Bohemian variety he was able to tin.  That motivated me to do my on digging.

Sure enough, found one way back in the queue.  This particular series indeed shows the beloved waxy red tip features that lends itself to the Cedar’s name.  Quest completed!  For the curious, this specimen was found in Wisconsin while we were visiting the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo.  They just made a major upgrade to their Crane habitats and looking forward to when we can check that out.  They have a number of trails that wind their way through their fields/forest that sit off to the side of the exhibits – it was on these trails back in July 2013 that I was apparently lucky enough to tin a glimpse of the red.

Thought I would just go ahead and throw the last shot in even though it is brown and ugly (i.e. crappy ha).  It rounded out the other missing angle from the previous series.  Now you have a view of the backside which follows the brown crest color down along the upper back until it fades into grey before ending in a dash of brilliant yellow (or or orangish depending on the Honeysuckle intake).  There, now I can rest better knowing I didn’t cheat you out a full perspective of our sharp looking friend.

Now back to trying to make lemonade out of a pandemic.