A slow hump day in August.

It seemed as though everyone was taking this morning off, or maybe the humidity is starting to get to them, because there was hardly anyone about, except for the robins, which were everywhere.

I did eventually find seven wood ducks, a couple of mallards, one green heron, and our one night heron on the pond, but we’ve seen a lot of them lately, and the cormorant appears to have moved on after just a short visit this year.

The situation was similar on the river with plenty of mallards, but no geese, herons, or anyone new.

Luckily, I did spot one interesting thing along the parkway on my way to the pond: a whole family of waxwings.

Here’s a youngster who does have the characteristic black mask across the eyes but not yet those creamy yellow belly feathers.

Here’s another one, on a neighboring branch and giving something a taste test.

And here’s a third, all in the same tree, who’s found a little stick with which to amuse itself.

Meanwhile, here’s an adult just starting to catch some of the morning sun with a creamy yellow belly but no yellow tips on its tail feathers.

And here’s another adult with yellow tips on its tail feathers.

There were as many as eight of them in the group, and they were all just hanging out, sometimes hopping to another branch close by, and seemingly all waiting for the day to get started.