The Waxwing Gang on the Highland Scenic Highway
Tucked within West Virgnia’s Monongahela National Forest and located just above the mountain community of Marlinton, the Highland Scenic Highway winds along the higher elevations of Pocahontas County. It is a nature photographer’s dream with sweeping vistas, unexpected views of black bears, bobcats, and other Appalachian wildlife, and in autumn, a cavalcade explosion of red, gold and orange blanketing the mountain slopes.
A photographer can spend days here and still not complete the 24-mile route. And speaking of remote, there are no crowds here; sometimes an hour passes before another car zips by. To this day, the Highland Scenic remains one of my happy places.
With wide shoulders and several scenic turnouts, there are ample and safe areas to park and photograph to one’s desire. For those wanting to explore away from the road, hiking trails are plentiful. It is a place where I am reluctant to leave, soaking in every moment before the last specter of ambient light fades into darkness.
One unexpected wildlife surprise occurred in June 1998 during a visit to the Highland Scenic to capture images for my second book, Mountain Memories: An Appalachian Sense of Place. I pulled into an overlook to pack up my gear before driving the four hours to home. However, this time I would not be leaving soon.
At the overlook among a stand of red spruce and mountain ash, I heard the high-pitched “dzeee, dzeee” of the Cedar Waxwing, a most impressive and perfectly sculpted songbird.
Waxwings are communal, traveling in large flocks, but they remain elusive as you never know when they might suddenly appear. But here they were, and I knew this might be my only opportunity to photograph them. Day’s end was within an hour and the skies were overcast, so my photographic opportunity was quickly fading. I wasted no time giving it a go.
The waxwing gang remained busy feeding on mountain ash berries and perching on branches of red spruce within feet of me. The spruce was on a slope along the highway’s edge, so the waxwings were situated at my eye level. As I made my way to them, they kept feeding. The flock was so tolerant that they even allowed me to go back to the truck to retrieve a longer telephoto lens (600mm). And photograph I did!
As far as personality, the waxwing is nomadic, gregarious, and daring. Did I mention gluttonous? Yep, lovely in appearance but ungainly in its feeding habits.
As a collective force, waxwings scour the woodlands, exploring for berry laden trees such as mountain ash or hackberry. They are deliberate in their search but relaxed in their attitude. But wow, do they love to eat; so much that they gorge themselves to where the berries drop out of their mouths! Why have seconds or thirds when you can just grab everything at once.
This waxwing troop was polite in their feeding with no gluttony but regardless, I was thankful they gave me time to watch and photograph them. Gluttonous? Maybe. But gracious, always. That’s my waxwings of the Highland Scenic Highway.
Cedar Waxwing - Highland Scenic Highway, WV (c) Jim Clark
Cedar Waxing on Red Spruce - Highland Scenic Highway, WV (c) Jim Clark
Cedar Waxwing - Highland Scenic Highway, WV (c) Jim Clark
Cedar Waxwings - Highland Scenic Highway, WV (c) Jim Clark
Cedar Waxwing - Highland Scenic Highway, WV (c) Jim Clark
Cedar Waxwing - Highland Scenic Highway, WV (c) Jim Clark