Black-capped Chickadee, the Massachusetts State Bird

Wednesday was a beautiful day, and I actually shot these pictures OUTSIDE! Not through the window like the last hundred or so backyard pics! This chickadee was hungry enough to swoop past me to the feeder a few times, so I got some good close-ups.


One more short hop and he'll reach the food.


Whoa! He missed the target! Cool wing shot, though.


I love the delicate reddish tints and the many rich shades of gray capped off (get it?)with jet black on brilliant white.


Caught in mid landing!


I think everyone loves chickadees. Surely everyone in Massachusetts does, anyway.


I love all the onomatopoeia bird names (birds named after the sound they make), but the chickadee is by far the best one. It even sounds cute! I know I was really tiny when my mom taught me to recognize both the chickadee-dee-dee and the phoe-be sounds. I taught my kids to recognize both chickadee sounds when they were really young, too.


I snapped this one as he grabbed the seed and started taking off. I didn't exactly freeze the action here, but personally I like the wings-in-motion look.