Today was a good day for chickadees, but a bad one for chickadee pictures. I found a flock of them in a tree, but they weren’t just basking in the sun, as one might hope. Rather, they were whirring madly from branch to branch, pecking something out from the leaf-buds (insects, perhaps?). They remained on each new perch no longer than three seconds. For a while, I tried to follow them with my lens; then, one of their number, probably attracted by the sparkle of sun on glass, landed on it, and wouldn’t leave. I gave the camera a shoogle. It pecked the lens-hood. I stuck my tongue out. It cocked its head to the side. I started walking away. It finally flew off, rejoining its friends in the tree. After that, I just stood and watched. I don’t often get to see that many chickadees, all together.
I wanted to get a picture of a chickadee in THIS tree, with all the flowers, but the wee berks kept rocketing off, just when I’d caught them in my sights. I got a lot of flower shots, though.
Quite the acrobatic one!
I think this is the one that mistook my camera for a perch.
I know this is a bird blog, not a bug blog, but I also found a plume moth, today: I simply must share my delight. I’ve been looking for one since last year — I caught one then, too, but at that time I didn’t know they had other wings, fringey ones, hidden under their big, flat upper wings. So I wanted to find another, and make it show me its plumes. In that, I was partially successful: while it never spread them out all the way, I did get a little keek, a hint of fronds dangling down:
I found a plume moth, lurking about my desk. I blew at it for a while, hoping it would unfold its wings all the way, but it never did.
I’ve got a plume moth.
…Jealous?
Oh, and I got mocked by some dude in the lift, on my way down. I wasn’t expecting company, when I got in, so I must’ve jumped a little. This, apparently, was grounds for amusement. “Oh, no! Someone in the elevator!” “Always expect someone to be there; then, you’ll never be surprised.” “Of course, it’s just you and me living in this building; why wouldn’t you be surprised?” Very funny, random lift guy. I’ll be watching for your Comedy Central special.
