I have worked here since 2011 telling stories of the Earth as preparation for a history of the Intermontane Grasslands of Central Cascadia and the rainswept coast that keeps them windy and dry. Now I am presenting this history, step by step, as I have learned it, often from the land itself. The history of this region includes the Canadian colonial space “The Okanagan Valley”, which lies over the land I live in above Canim Bay. The story stretches deep into the American West, into the US Civil War, the War of 1812, and the Louisiana Purchase, as well into the history of the Columbia District of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In all, the story spans the Chilcotin and Columbia volcanic plateaus and the basins that surround them. In this vast watershed lie homelands as old as 13,200 years (Sequim) and 16,200 years (Salmon River.) That’s how far we are walking together here, who are all the land speaking.
Then it happens!
The waxwings are coming!
See?
Okanagan Okanogan 
Oh Joy!
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That’s for sure!
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Definitely an Alfred Hitchcock moment.
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Hide your apples, I say.
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Great photos! Why are the birds called “waxwings”?
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The name “waxwing” comes from the waxy red secretions found on the tips of the secondaries of some birds. The exact function of these tips is not known, but they may help attract mates. Thanks for asking. Now we know! By the way, introduced honeysuckles have changed the colour of the secretions in many waxwings in the northwest! Cool.
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Reblogged this on Sable Aradia, Priestess & Witch and commented:
The waxwings are here!
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