Families: Paridae, Remizidae, Aegithalidae
These birds are generally drab, small and have short legs and short but strong bills. They are usually found in small flocks, are social and inquisitive. They also mix in with other birds quite often.
Seeing and photographing the Bushtits in northern Utah was a gift that I didn't expect yesterday and I am grateful to finally have images of them that I like.
When this Mountain Chickadee came into view it was hanging from a juniper bough with two Douglas Fir seeds in its bill it appeared to be looking around for a place to cache its food.
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.
These are the stories behind how I took these Red-breasted Nuthatch and Juniper Titmouse photos while relaxing and enjoying a lovely day in the West Desert.
When winter snow closes off my access to the mountains that I love to visit to find birds I find that it makes me feel wistful because I will miss the birds and the calmness I find up there.
Because I have spent so much time out in the West Desert lately I have seen and heard quite a few Juniper Titmice moving through the junipers that dot the slopes of the mountains and foothills.
Two mornings ago a small flock of Mountain Chickadees came in to forage on the seeds in some Douglas Fir trees and I had fun trying to keep up with the small dynamos.
Yesterday morning I spent a few minutes photographing Mountain Chickadees foraging in Douglas Fir trees which was a lot of fun but challenging too.
I wanted to share two photos of the Mountain Chickadees I photographed yesterday morning that flew in and fed on Douglas Fir seeds.
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.
Last week while photographing birds in Ophir Canyon I was able to take a short series of photos of a Mountain Chickadee perched in a juniper right after I photographed some bushtits.
Bushtits are a nemesis bird for me, I have only had a few opportunities to photograph these tiny, frenetic birds and I have yet to get high quality images of them.
Yesterday may have started off dreary but it sure got lively with a Willamson's Sapsucker, Mountain Chickadee and a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches at the Magical Sapsucker Tree!
After a long dry spell for birds on Antelope Island today I was surprised to photograph this Mountain Chickadee, a bird I didn't expect to see on the island.