black capped chickadee

Perched prettily on a rainy day.

Things are looking up!

Sunning near the Mississippi

"Gosh, will it EVER warm up?"

How cold was it? It was so cold this poor little Black capped Chickadee had to put on his parka to try to stay warm... Thanks to a half-inch coat of insulating feathers, chickadees maintain their body temperature at 100° Fahrenheit during daylight hours, even when the air is at zero degrees. ..

Facing bravely into the cold north wind.

No shortage of these guys. I walk outside and am suddenly surrounded by them on every nearby branch.

I’ve collected an audio sample. It’s interesting, being that most people hear a 2 or 3 note “fee-bee” or “hey sweetie” call, but around here it consists of 5 notes and sounds more like “hey sweetie, sweetie” or “fee bee-bee bee-bee”, and the pitch decreases slightly between “words.”

These little guys have no fear of me at all and will literally land on me looking for treats.

Black Capped Chickadee in stormy weather. Speaking of storms, if I am late filling the feeding spots in the morning, and I go outside, I am met with a storm of chickadees fluttering around my head. It's as if the movie The Birds wasn't made by Hitchcock, but rather Disney. lol

These birds are a constant in the yard almost year round. However when they start nesting they all but disappear. They are just starting to come back now, so hopefully before long I will see some cute fledgling chickadees.

Caught this chickadee stashing a sunflower seed in an unopened maple tree blossom.

This chickadee was excavating a nesting site in a dead tree. Happened to catch it just as it left the site to dispose of the shavings. One of those times you say to yourself, "Dang it! I wish I had the shutter speed higher!!"

Channeling it's inner nuthatch.

And a more serious take on a Chickadee.

Before the Sharp Shinned Hawk attacked the dove yesterday, this chickadee seemed to sense the hawk's presence. It stopped pecking at the peanut it held in its foot, and just perched there, still as a statue, and stared up into the sky. This put me on alert as well, and I kept checking the yard...

Chickadee in a Hawthorn. They spend a lot of time in this shrub. A predator would think twice before diving into this to try to get a bird. Taken today.

Always so cute.

While they nest and raise their young, these birds all but disappear from my yard. I think they try to avoid leading Blue Jays Grackles or Starlings to their nests. They turn from feeder birds to more like a warbler, flitting though the trees looking for insects and becoming near impossible to...

...just before flying off with a treat

Chickadee enjoying some suet