This just happened to be a photo taken in my backyard. I love the idea of taking a photo each January 1st as a nice way to kick off the year although subject matter is not always abundant - just depends a lot upon the weather.

This was a warmer year and I happened to hear the tell-tale calls of cedar waxwings outside. These birds usually congregate in the very tops of our oak trees but this time the sound was coming from much lower. A neighbor's tree was sporting ripe berries and the waxwings had found them. They were so excitedly feeding on the berries that they barely noticed me setup my tripod and camera, allowing me to get many good photos of them en masse. Waxwings are known for having an eye stripe that makes them look like they are wearing bandit masks.

I love the subject matter (since I love birds), but I really love the blended soft pastel background of the scene.

Canon EOS 10D, Tamron 200-400mm f/4.5/5.6 Aspherical LD @ 390mm, 1/180 sec @ f/5.6, ISO equiv 400, Gitzo G1349 Mountaineer Carbon Fiber Tripod, Gitzo 1576M Ball Head