Poecile atricapillus
Black-capped Chickadees have black caps, white cheeks, short, thin black bills, gray backs and wings with buffy underparts.
Yesterday, I took images of several bird species with fall colors in the background—or at least as much fall color as I'm likely to see here this year.
I photographed this singing Black-capped Chickadee adult this past August high up in the Wasatch Mountains on a very hot summer morning.
On Sunday I had this delightfully cheery, tiny Black-capped Chickadee hanging from a branch in my viewfinder for a few moments in time.
I like having my windows open so I can hear the sounds of birds when I can't be in the field. It helps me to hear them especially when the world is so crazy.
Two days ago I was able to spend a few minutes taking Black-capped Chickadee photos as small flock of them foraged in Common Mulleins.
I'm happy to have had these two little Black-capped Chickadees in my viewfinder this week. I enjoy seeing, hearing, and photographing these perky primarily black and white birds.
I saw and heard Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees yesterday morning but only this Black-capped Chickadee came in close enough for me to photograph.
Two days ago this Black-capped Chickadee and several other others were moving through a willow thicket in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains where I had been focusing on photographing warblers, tanagers, and vireos.
As a bird photographer I'm feeling a sense of urgency now that I didn't feel a few weeks ago because as I watch the migrants in the Wasatch Mountains getting ready for their long journeys I know that my time for photographing them this year is quickly running out.
This Black-capped Chickadee's plumage isn't in prime condition but I feel like my work as a bird photographer includes taking images of them looking great and not so great because it is all part of the cycle of their lives.
Typically I would prefer that all of the body of this Black-capped Chickadee was free of the out of focus elements in front of it but visually the abstract jumble of Autumn colored leaves stimulates my eyes and my brain.
I heard a familiar call, caught a flash of black, gray and white and spotted a Black-capped Chickadee land right in front of a Western Tent Caterpillar tent while calling out a clear "chickadee-dee-dee" to another chickadee that was nearby.
I spent some time yesterday morning observing, photographing and enjoying the songs and calls of Black-capped Chickadees in a high mountain canyon. Chickadees always bring a smile to my lips and yesterday was no exception.