A bizarre commute home.


Driving home yesterday I neared a budding red tree, vaguely identified as a red leaf maple during earlier drives, (because I'm a tree geek,) and noticed extremely unusual bright yellow flowers at the tip of each branch.

This is atypical of red leaf maple flowering habits so maybe I mis-identified the tree?  What tree is red with large yellow flowers?  I crane my head to get a better look when the bright yellow flowers morph into birds and soar away in a swarm.   Surreal. Have I driven into a Disney movie?  Acid flashback?

I suspect they are Western Tanagers which migrate through this valley in the spring.  There are just so many of them!  I drove by again today and they are still here, although not as many.  A big cherry tree loaded with fruit may be the attraction.


I'm waiting for confirmation from Terry.  And thinking maybe I should plant a cherry tree.  Am I turning into a bird geek? 


photo by utahbirds.com

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm thinking they might have been goldfinches, but I would love to see tanagers. I wonder what kind of shrubs would attract cedar waxwings in the fall?
Sun May 04, 01:59:00 PM
Stephanie said…
I think you're right. I didn't realize how many species of yellow birds there were until I referred to (your) bird book. I'm hoping to see the cedar waxwings - they are so pretty.
Mon May 05, 07:36:00 AM
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