The Chickadees Got in the Way

      On Sunday I led a small group on a field trip on what we call the River Bend Golf Course Perimeter Trail. The main objective was birding , but anything of an interesting nature  would be fine. The trail passes through heavy old growth forest of mixed aspen and spruce. There's also a tremendous amount of brush. Although most of the time we are about 20 m ( 22 yd) we seldom see the river. So as you can guess this is excellent habitat for birds and other critters. There were very fresh moose tracks but we didn't see a moose.

     I had heard that someone had been feeding chickadees on the trail and that chickadees would come to your hand. I took some sunflower seeds in my pocket just in case. The first chickadees we found became very excited when we showed up. So I reached in my pocket for seeds and right away I had a chickadee in my hand. I had seeds in my left hand and my camera in my right hand. I'll have to get better with this technique as heads and tails were chopped off in most of my shots.

Caught in the act!

Estelle with a visitor

A good example of the brush, spruce and aspen  in the area

This old guy looks pretty excited

     So 99% of the afternoon was about chickadees.

Gaetz Lake Sanctuary Walk

      Saturday afternoon I had some work to do at the Kerry Wood Nature Center and left some time for a good walk on the trails.

      It was clear and mild and as a result very pleasant.

     Somebody has been feeding chickadees in that area. The woods are full of chickadees. They get excited when they see you. When they discover you aren't one of the people who carries seeds , they very quickly leave. What cheek!

I like sunlit clearings on the trail.

More sunlit trail.

A few shadows thrown in with some bright sunlight

A pileated woodpecker hole 

One of the wet lands

One the rascals who is very tame