Cedar Waxwings wander almost constantly, appearing suddenly to harvest berries and insects wherever favored foods become plentiful. This waxwing was one of half-a-dozen that were flycatching (a bird behavior that involves darting out from a branch to catch a flying insect) over the Cedar River in New York’s Adirondack Park. A waxwing would perch in this cherry tree, then suddenly dash out to snag a hatching insect over the river, continuing its flight to a tree on the opposite shore. Then it would flycatch on its flight from the distant shore back to this tree. And so on, back and forth, all afternoon.

This photograph was my favorite of the day—so carefully composed (by instinct and sheer luck in some combination), that it looks like a painting.

Location: Cedar River, Moose River Plains, Adirondack Park, Upstate New York, USA

Lee Rentz