Nature Happens - In the Home Depot parking lot

Yesterday I stopped at the Mt. Pleasant Home Depot store to purchase materials for a woodworking project - more will follow on that.  As I loaded things into my truck, I looked up and saw a flock of birds on one of trees planted in the parking lot planters.

The tree was an ornamental crab apple.  The birds were Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) taking advantage of the remaining fruit.  Cedar Waxwings are both insect and fruit eaters.  During the fall and winter they will often gather in large flocks (often with other species) to feed on berries and other fruits.  By now they have eaten much of the good tasting and easily accessible fruits and they are searching out finds such as Highbush Cranberry and these parking lot crab apples.

To learn more about Cedar Waxwings please check out this species profile from 2013.