I happen to love chickadees. And I know I’m not alone.
Not only Black-capped Chickadees—but that’s the species I’m most familiar with. Many years (decades) ago, when I first moved to Maine, I discovered that if I stood very still, they’d come light on my fingertips and pluck a sunflower seed from my palm. They’re smart little birds. They’re chatty—engaging in a Marco-Polo kind of communication game that other birds pay attention to and (I’m convinced) interpret as safe space.
In Maine’s woodlands, they’re not all that hard to photograph, since there’s plenty of places to hide right quick if they feel like it. Here in the Wasatch, there’s only little scrub oaks and sagebrush and a few maples. Hard to get a decent photo of ’em here.
Got one today, though.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 9 a.m. (DST), I hiked a couple hundred feet up the mountain.
1. Northern Flicker** (v)
2. House Finch** (v)
3. Black-billed Magpie*
4. Pine Siskin
6. American Robin*
5. Black-capped Chickadee
7. Sharp-shinned Hawk
8. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay**
9. Spotted Towhee (v)
10. Song Sparrow* (v)
Elsewhere
11. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, house finch, lesser goldfinch, northern flicker, pine siskin, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, spotted towhee, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
