Chickadee balancing and eating
Saturday, November 1st, 2008
Warren, Connecticut. I always wondered how these birds can get enough purchase on a round peg to hold themselves up given that their little feet and claws aren’t built for this kind of perch. Some can but others feel the need to hold on elsewhere so they can pig out with abandon.
Note: This is an extreme crop as a test of the Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L lens I’m renting.
Wow, he really seems to be digging into it. Nice shots richard. Its fortunate he did not fly away hearing the shutter cocking sound. I’ve tried to photograph pigeons a few times but the shutter noise is a chaos i need to avoid. Maybe its high time i order a camera muffler.
Hi Richard.
I stumbled on these chickadee shots in my rss feed this morning and was stunned by the lighting, detail and composition, then realized they were taken by my friend — Richard. Birds are fascinating creatures and amazingly adaptable. I think your pics and commentary are a good example of that.
Great shots Richard!
Thanks Dilip and Greg.
Dilip, the birds come and go quite quickly. I’m sure the shutter sound of the 5D scares them off but they come back quickly. The key is to stand in one place and not move all that much. Keep the camera at your eye and freeze. Sometimes I open the other eye to see the whole area to see if a bird is approaching but that’s about it. This session was about ten minutes of this kind of shooting and it produced some nice images.
Spray and pray…
Greg, delighted you like them and yes, these animals are quite amazing in their ability to make good use of both bird seed and whatever they can find out in the world to eat. We have many brush piles around our place and I leave them (don’t burn them) because birds like to live in them. I’ve had some for over ten years and no doubt there’s a whole apartment complex of birds in it.