Cedar Waxwings Galore

The Red Cedar tree in our yard is now officially open for business, so say the Cedar Waxwings who were busy feasting on its berry-like cones all day today:
 

A waxwing in a sea of food.

I counted about 20 or so Cedar Waxwings in this flock, but there could've easily been more -- they were moving around so much, it was hard to get an idea of how many were actually out there. Most of the birds were juveniles, with streaky breasts and a generally scruffy appearance:
 

Hello scruffy bird, see anything you like?
 

In fact, I only saw one individual with the sleeker feathers and those funky red waxy deposits on its wing tips that mark older birds:
 

So this may not have been the fanciest group of waxwings ever, but these birds were a ton of fun to watch as they scarfed down as many cones as they could, as quickly as possible. And yeah, the juveniles could actually be pretty sleek, too:
 

Look, a waxwing tongue!
 

Speaking of tongues, there were a few other birds sampling Red Cedar cones today as well, including, to my surprise, a Northern Flicker -- I didn't think these birds ate fruit, but I guess they do! A few cones down, and then it licked its lips....
 

Now that's a tongue!!

I'll keep an eye on this tree to see what other creatures stop by for a snack. Hopefully there will be enough food to go around for a while yet!