Even though I have published a few Chickadee articles recently it’s not often closeup photographs are available. While they are anything but shy, catching their brief moments being still is hard. These photos are fairly close and you can see things not always in small bird images.

There was plenty of food here so I was able to shoot them from different angles.  As long as I kept a respectable distance they were too busy to pay attention to me.

I only shot one decent in flight photo (previously posted) since the thick reeds were in the way. I’ll gladly take these.

These shots were taken the same day as the Downy Woodpecker and Nuthatch. All in or around the reeds. I now know why, after watching these Chickadees, there was so much activity. Apparently there are seeds inside the reed stalks.

I watched them strip the outside sheath and pull out streams of small seeds.

I tried, but was not successful in catching the flying seeds.

For me Chickadees are a lot like ducks. I must take the photograph when I see them.

The last few days we have been out actively searching for small birds to photograph. If you look back on the recent pages in this site you will see the results. We are photographing more than our fair share.

Here a small Downy Woodpecker moved around, low in the reeds, next to the trail we were on. The stalks ruined most shots, but I took enough images that something had to be good.

Most times I get the best Woodpecker photos with my longer lens. Here these were shot at only around 250mm.

This nuthatch  refused to leave his chosen spot.

Last I saw he was still sitting there.

I caught site of something flying into what looked like a hole in a tree. After a few minutes this Flicker popped back out.

He was gone in an instant and had I not seen movement we would never have known.

At times these birds look dull compared to the Mallards they share the marsh with. But when the light is right they are really beautiful birds.

These shots were taken in the afternoon on a cloudy fall day. The sun was perfect for these two.

The colors and light are almost all brown / bronze now. Maybe not in towns or cities, but the woods, fields, and marshes are brown. Late fall, almost winter, drab.

I could skip winter this year, but a little more color would be nice.