Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) - Point Roberts, WA
"Jack be nimble, jack be quick."....That's what you have to be if you are shooting Chickadees! Sometimes you even have to jump over a candlestick!
A few days ago one flew into my house. It just sat there staring back at me on top of a candle (funny enough), frozen like a statue. Try as I might I could not get him to move and go back outside. I almost thought he had a heart attack and died. I have a cat and quickly locked him up.. wouldn't have ended well. The chickadee literally did not move at all. I had to go open a large window and play the call a few times and then he woke up from his trance and flew out of the window and onto a suet cake. He started feeding and was Ok thankfully!
They are one of my favorite birds on the planet. They have the happiest songs of any bird. They nest every year in my yard and are so much fun to sit, listen to and watch. They can be little bullies in their dominance hierachies but it's just another fascinating thing about them.
They may be one of the most common birds around town but rarely do they sit still long enough for a decent shot. Or when they do actually sit still, there is always a branch conveniently in front of their cute face (well at least for me).
This guy was feeding on thistle with the American Goldfinches and I caught him on a blackberry bush for the 1/2 a second he rested there.
When you are walking and hear the unmistakable call of the Black-capped Chickadee you just can't help but feel happy. When they land on your hand to feed and connect with you all seems right in the world in that moment.
Fun fact about them : They can lower their body temperatures during cold nights in a torpor-like state as hummingbirds do. They can literally reduce their body temperature by 12 °C to conserve energy.
Just when you thought the Black-capped Chickadee couldn't get any cooler ;).
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) - Point Roberts, WA
"Jack be nimble, jack be quick."....That's what you have to be if you are shooting Chickadees! Sometimes you even have to jump over a candlestick!
A few days ago one flew into my house. It just sat there staring back at me on top of a candle (funny enough), frozen like a statue. Try as I might I could not get him to move and go back outside. I almost thought he had a heart attack and died. I have a cat and quickly locked him up.. wouldn't have ended well. The chickadee literally did not move at all. I had to go open a large window and play the call a few times and then he woke up from his trance and flew out of the window and onto a suet cake. He started feeding and was Ok thankfully!
They are one of my favorite birds on the planet. They have the happiest songs of any bird. They nest every year in my yard and are so much fun to sit, listen to and watch. They can be little bullies in their dominance hierachies but it's just another fascinating thing about them.
They may be one of the most common birds around town but rarely do they sit still long enough for a decent shot. Or when they do actually sit still, there is always a branch conveniently in front of their cute face (well at least for me).
This guy was feeding on thistle with the American Goldfinches and I caught him on a blackberry bush for the 1/2 a second he rested there.
When you are walking and hear the unmistakable call of the Black-capped Chickadee you just can't help but feel happy. When they land on your hand to feed and connect with you all seems right in the world in that moment.
Fun fact about them : They can lower their body temperatures during cold nights in a torpor-like state as hummingbirds do. They can literally reduce their body temperature by 12 °C to conserve energy.
Just when you thought the Black-capped Chickadee couldn't get any cooler ;).