MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 28

This has been a waxwing winter. Waxwings are elegant birds, slightly smaller than starlings, with a pinkish-beige body, black mask and throat, yellow and white wing markings, yellow tail flash and a punk-like crest on top of their head. On their wings are a few bright red waxy feather shafts, which resemble old-fashioned sealing wax, hence the birds’ name. They are winter visitors to Britain, but in some years – such as this – they come in vast numbers because there aren’t enough berries and hips to feed upon in their native Scandinavia. When I heard there was an invasion of the birds, I was determined to see some for myself as I had heard how striking they were, but although I was told several times that they were nearby, the waxwings had always flown on by the time I arrived.

Waxwings seek out berries in parks and gardens, and, especially, around supermarkets, which often, luckily for birdwatchers, plant sturdy, evergreen berry-bearing bushes around the car parks. So yesterday, when I heard that eleven of the birds were near our local Sainsburys, I was determined to see them. We parked and while my husband went in for some bread, I kept watch, hoping I would see a few of the birds around. But no luck. So we decided to drive along the roads surrounding the store in the hope that they were still in the vicinity. Suddenly I noticed a small flock of birds in a tree. Could it be? Yes! Parking once more, we walked along to the tree. Nearby was a thorny rose bush and after a while some of the birds fluttered down to take some rose hips. Close-up, the birds were stunning and I felt so privileged to see them. They didn’t seem to mind being observed, and we stood at watched them for half-an-hour or so, until the bitter wind had frozen our fingers and faces. Even so, I managed to get quite a few photographs – a memento of a beautiful bird – as well as hearing their unusual song.

From one songster to another; a few months ago, regular readers of my blog might recall that my daughter and I went to a pop concert in Bournemouth that featured Mary Wilde and a couple of guests. We enjoyed it so much that we vowed to get to another when the opportunity arose, so imagine our delight when we found that Marty was to appear at the Rhodes Centre in Bishops Stortford, not too far from us, together with his band, The Wildcats. I booked three tickets, as my husband didn’t want to miss out on the fun, and on Saturday we took our seats in the comfortable small theatre. We weren’t disappointed. Marty was on top form – amazing to think that he is 74! – and the Wildcats were excellent too. We, together with the rest of the audience, sang and clapped along as all our favourite hit from the late 1950s and early 1960s were belted out.

There was a bonus, too. At the Rhodes Centre an exhibition was being held entitled ‘Worn To Be Wild’ which featured a selection of dresses by dress designer and textile artist Kate Plumtree, all inspired by a British bird or mammal and a specific fashion era. The intriguing dresses included designs based on a bat, a kingfisher, a mute swan, a Grebe, a fox, a golden eagle and an otter. I remember seeing some of them featured on Springwatch Unsprung last year – the inventiveness of the designs was extremely impressive.

In the last blog I mentioned that I was hoping to get a new bookcase to bring some order to the heaps of books which I kept tripping over. Luckily, in the end my daughter and I didn’t have to smuggle one in, which was good as I doubt it would have fitted into her car. This was because I explained to my husband how much space we would gain, how much tidier it would look and (the clincher), how he would be able to keep some of his books about trains to hand! So, a quick trip to Argos, a, surprisingly easy, battle with a flat pack – and the bookcase was up. It looks good, and, best of all, my precious natural history guides are all together. So now, I can read about waxwings whenever I want, as the book is now easy to find!