By Susan and Biff Andrews

The party animals are back, that raucous group that shows up about this time each year, storming the holly trees in our neighborhood. This has been an annual event in our back yard since we first noticed it Easter Sunday 2008 and it is getting bigger every year.

We’re talking about one of our favorite birds, the cedar waxwing. They are here a little earlier than last year, but the party can start just about anytime. They are pretty erratic about their comings and goings.

They started arriving in small groups around Feb. 28. They were in full swing, with about 100 in the party the first week in March, and now the tree is completely stripped of red berries.

Cedar waxwings are small social birds, and in a group, they can be easily mistaken for a flock of starlings. Like a murmuration of starlings, they make a lot of chattering and clamoring in the trees when they arrive, so it is easy not to pay attention to what type of bird is there, but, oh, the difference!

Cedar waxwings are a feast for the eyes when you see one up close. They have a topknot like a cardinal, a black “mask” on their eyes that ancient Egyptian royalty would envy, and a breast like silk the color of a beautiful sunset. The tip of the tail is bright yellow.

In all other regards they are a small ordinary light brown bird.

This year they seemed to be having a little trouble with the robins. They are very sociable and don’t mind hanging out with the robins, and the latter are okay with the cedar waxwings most of the time.

There were a few squabbles among the partygoers this time. The robins got a little impatient with the way the cedar waxwings were hogging up all the goodies and tried a few times to chase them off, to no avail.

Everyone was having a wonderful time until one big “party pooper” crashed the party. A peregrine falcon that had been quietly observing the festivities swooped in from its vantage point in a neighboring tree and rocketed right into the middle of a group of cedar waxwings that was in flight.

This slate-blue “rocket” was so fast we didn’t notice any losses at the critical moment. Hopefully there was safety in numbers for our little waxwing friends. Peregrine falcons are silent hunters, feeding almost exclusively on birds taken from the air, and they can reach speeds of 175 mph in a dive.

It is now the second week in March, and the party is over as fast as if someone flipped a switch. There is not a berry to be found on the holly tree, and all is quiet — for a while, anyway.

For more bird excitement, don’t forget to check out the Birding Festival in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge on April 21-23. A full schedule of events is offered, from motorized tours of Lake Drummond, Owl Prowls in the evening, bird banding, guided walks, lectures, a history of the swamp and more. Check out the schedule at www.fws.gov/refuge/Great_Dismal_Swamp.

Susan and Bradford “Biff” Andrews are retired teachers and master naturalists who have been outdoor people all their lives, exploring and enjoying the woods, swamps, rivers and beaches throughout the region for many years. Email them at b.andrews22@live.com.