Chickadees again.... and, me.....

How do the weeks go by so quickly?   Sheeeesh......

Anyway....I've been trying to get a chickadee to land on my hand for a seed.  It took about 3 days of standing there with a handful of seeds ... at late feeding time.  Finally, it happened ...with the tiniest little one.  So brave.

He pecked gently at my fingers first.  I don't know if he was checking to see if they were edible or if they dispensed a seed.  And, then..one hopped right onto my hand and off again with a seed .. so quickly it could hardly have been called a landing.  They are so quick.  And, so light...I hardly felt a thing.

The second day I tried to hold the seeds with one hand and take a picture with the other hand.... oh, man...I was trying not to move too much..not to giggle and not to swear.  I got about 19 blurry photos.  Just couldn't get the auto focus working how I wanted it to.  I need a remote shutter release and to set up on the tripod I guess.... although, I don't know if the tripod is high enough. ...maybe on a box or something... that wall is 5 feet high... almost too high for me to get my hand on there...it cramps up after a while trying to keep my fingers out quite straight so they don't think I am going to grab them... as if they would know the difference.

Anyway...finally I did come up with a couple of not too blurry ones...

Click to make them larger if you like...

Here little chickadee-dee-dee

I have sunflower seeds.... the best kind.....

And, if I took my hand down to rest it....they jumped onto the top of the wall and glared at me....like...where's that seed you promised? .....

Hey, wait a minute here!  I just noticed when I cropped it... and could see better...he already has a seed in his beak!  Cheeky!  Gimme a break will ya?  Have to rest my hand...........

You can see I was having way too much fun.  Especially when I should have been paying more attention to what was getting quite brown on the stove ...

I'll try to see if I can get things set up a bit better or ... better yet... find another pair of hands to help take the photos....

Check out the other great birds on Wild Bird Wednesday.

Click the birdie below to go there ....

Just hanging out....

...or on...or, off .. or something.

Susan had a funny pic of a gull trying to swallow a too big fish... and this doesn't go anywhere near that for a laugh...but, maybe a little giggle.

He has a sunflower seed from the feeder in his tiny beak...but, why he chose to go to this spot with it I don't know.  How is he going to eat it hanging upside down?  Hmmm....

When they get a seed, they usually go to a branch...hold it down with one little foot and nibble at it daintily  ... til it's gone.

Surely he must have gone there after his unusual decision to do some calisthenics mid flight....

Click on the photo to see him bigger

Here is what they usually do.....
Much simpler ... hahahha..

                                                                 

Wild Bird Wednesday

I was looking through my photos today wondering what I have that is interesting and that I haven't posted on WBW yet....

Lo and behold...I do have something cute and interesting.

A little Downy Woodpecker.  A lady .. there is no red on its head.... the males have a small patch of red on the back of the head.

She loves the suet feeder ...  and, every so often I do see a little man come too...but, more often than not..it is only her.  She jumps off right away if a big Northern Flicker shows up ...but, is quick to return when he goes away.

She has a look in the feeder ...decides where to peck and then goes to work.  I have some suet with bugs in it... they seem to like it quite a bit.

Every so often she leans waaaaay out to either have a rest..or to get a better look at things.  Maybe she has vision problems.. hahahaha...

And look at the last pic...she has a little crumb on her chest... so cute....


Click on any pic to enlarge and get a closer look ....

And..... please head over to Stewart's blog and check out Wild Bird Wednesday ... lots of neat birds and great photography to see over there.  Just click on the long legged guy in the pic below....

Wild Bird Wednesday

... again, not 'til Thursday... oh, well, here I am...

This is a rare glimpse of the Lesser Canadian Snowrunner.... they go so quickly you hardly have time to get them into the frame, never mind focus... even with auto focus...

Isn't he cute?

Maybe I fooled somebody for a nano second.  But, most of you probably recognized him right away. Of course he is really the Black Capped Chickadee.  They are my favourite little guys. .. so cute, so quick and yet pretty brave, in that they come close to you once they get a bit used to the fact that you will continue to stand there for some time.

Click on the photo to see his feet..they're a blur!

I had brushed off the snow and laid out a few seeds on the top of the wall.  They would jump on the wall from the nearby lilac twigs... grab a seed and carry it back to eat it in the bush.  They hold it against a branch with one foot and nibble it ... so civilized they are...compared to the sparrows.
This guy must have been kicking up some snow to find that last seed he absolutely knew must be there .... somewhere.....

I got one or two other decent pics...

.....................and..............as usual....................

a lot of these.....

butts.....

in some frames there were no birds at all...just a few bits of tossed up snow as they left...

Why don't you check out the Wild Bird link below to see what gems the others managed to photograph...

Wild Bird Wednesday

Pure happenstance.

I was picking my way through snow covered rocks in my garden.. trying to take down the suet feeder to refill it... when I heard a huge commotion behind me.

Sure enough...I stepped on a rock..slid, turned my ankle a bit, tried to catch myself and in the process..did a complete spin around...just in time to see about 6 magpies chasing something really big.  I jumped up ...had a look and saw a big owl sail into the huge spruce down the block.

Quickly dashed into the house and got my camera. Wrong lens..changed it for the other one... got out there and down the block I went.  There he was ...still sitting in the tree with the stupid magpies squawking and hopping up and down right in front of his face, on the very same branch.

He was about 70 feet up a 100 foot tree..so I couldn't even stand any closer .. the big branches completely hid him if I got too close.  I fired off a couple of shots... but, with automatic focus..it was doing the magpies rather than the owl.  I don't even use the manual focus...must read up on that and get some practice in ...and soon!

And, so...I'm afraid it is not a great shot ... but, I did get him!  My first owl... and, only the second one I have actually seen right here near the house.  We are close to a golf course and they probably hang out over there ....

..... and, then........off he flew with the darn magpies in hot pursuit..poor guy.... can't even enjoy a quiet wintery fly about with them around.

I've decided he is a Great Horned... please correct me if you know for sure and I am wrong....
                                   
Also, click on the photo to see him closer ... it is cropped big time to get him that close already...
'cuz as I mentioned..he was about 70 feet in the air and I was out in the middle of the road as well...

Damned magpie...get outta there!  (sorry Chris ...I know how you love the Majestic Magpie!) ...

      

Linking up to Wild Bird Wednesday where you can see all sorts of great birds .... just click on the spindly legged guy below if you would like to go straight to the page.