Tuesday, January 27, 2015

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 ....





15 comments:

mick said...

What a great experience! Congrats on being so patient - and thanks for sharing.

Breathtaking said...

Congratulations! It took me much longer than you to gain the Coal tits confidence.I really applaud you doing it and taking photos,(and good ones) at the same time.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

What a special experience and great shots

eileeninmd said...

That does look like fun! I would love to have the chickadees land in my hand! Great shots.. Have a happy day!

Magpie's Mumblings said...

How amazing!!!! You must have been so excited.

Unknown said...

Adorable little bird! It paid of to be patient.

NatureFootstep said...

congratulations to getting a little friend. :) Don´t think that would work where I live. :)

Sue (this n that) said...

Wow Vee... you and your darling Chickadees, good on you.
It must be such a thrill now you can handfeed them. Well done!
For a one-handed, trying to focus, waiting for the exact moment, photo - Excellent!! :D)

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

How fun is that! I would love to be able to do that but I don't see many chickadees at my feeders.

Lovable Derek said...

What a beautiful post, and well done for gaining the little bird's trust.

Thanks for this delightful fun post.

Have a great weekend.

A Colorful World said...

Wonderful post! What fun having these close encounters!

thewovenspoke said...

Pretty chickadee so nice

EG CameraGirl said...

Good for you!! Isn't it fun?

Maria Vaz said...

Wow great shots ... quite the challenge! You did it though ... good on you for having so much patience! xx

Lin said...

WOW! That's really cool that they came to you. Good work!