Thursday, February 7, 2008

winter snack

This mountain chickadee holds a sunflower kernel between its feet while it eats.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Con. I really like the patterns in the wings.

Anonymous said...

Boy! To catch him in action! I agree with bjm about the wings. And also the contrast of the puffiness in his body. Must have been cold!

Hope you're staying cozy warm and dry with all the snow you've been getting!

Con Daily said...

Thanks, Bob and Tracy. I liked the wings in this image, too, and the way the twigs frame the bird.

Tracy, it's been cold and very windy, snow often but not huge amounts, the snow on the ground is blowing and drifting. Gusts to 75 mph! All the birds are fluffed up!

Anonymous said...

Very interesting and unusual photo of the little chickadee. I like the way you captured his movements.

Mark said...

This is framed nicely by the branches. I was attempting to get some wing spread images of my local black-capped chickadees, but resulted in nothing but blurs.

Con Daily said...

Thanks for your comments, April and Mark.
I think the bird must have lost balance for a moment as this is one in the middle of a series of shots while the bird ate the seed and the only one with the wing action.

Howard Grill said...

Great image. I like the way the dark wings contrast with the bright background and, like others have said, the great way the twigs frame and mimic the shape of the wings.

Anonymous said...

Nice picture, particularly the wing pattern. I like the chickadee's focus on the seed (I've been known to concentrate on lunch myself, so I fully understand) as it makes the picture about the bird in a way that some photos don't.

jrberkley said...

I think this one's just gorgeous, Con -- for me, besides the wings, it's the position of the bird's head and the way the whitish branches frame it so beautifully. Love the coloring. I hope you don't mind if I pull this one off just to use on my desktop?

Con Daily said...

Thanks Howard, Wren, and Julia.
I was quite happy when I saw how the bird took on the shape of the space created by the twigs in this image.
Wren, I see your point, it is more about the bird.
Julia, of course you may put this image on your desktop (The "whitish branches" are aspen.)

A little secret everyone: I really liked this image from the start, but didn't post it right away because I didn't think anyone else would like it. I'm so glad you did and thank you all for your comments.

Howard Grill said...

Con, isn't it amazing how hard it is to predict what others will like? I actually wrote a whole post about that in my blog from Dec 9th...it amazes me all the time.

Anonymous said...

Another great shot!!! I love the way the branches frame the bird.

Anonymous said...

Great photo, but "its", OK?

like yours, ours, his, hers ...its.

Con Daily said...

Thanks, Anon! The post was written in haste. I know the rule, but my fingers don't always type what I know. Thanks for commenting.

I wish anons would sign a name or nickname so I'd know who to thank.