black-capped chickadee

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) sitting on a Rose branch in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.

black capped chickadee sitting on a rose branch

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) (Purchase)

-click to enlarge-

   This is a Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) I photographed in the backyard the other day. Recently I have figured out that one bird call I’ve been hearing outside is not the usual songs from Chickadees, Juncos and other common local birds, but of a male Annas Hummingbird. I have seen it every day for the last while, and now that I’ve learned the pattern of trees it seems to use, I am trying to photograph it. Naturally it is nowhere to be found when I have my camera out, but is almost in my face when I’m out with the dog (and no camera). While trying to find it and a Golden-crowned Kinglet I’ve been seeing a lot of lately, I couldn’t resist photographing the Black-capped Chickadees and Juncos anyway. This particular Chickadee seemed even more curious than they usually are, and wasn’t afraid of sitting near me in the rose bushes. I actually had to back up at one point to make this photo as it was within the minimum focusing distance of my lens (70-200). Hoping to have the same “problem” with that Hummingbird soon. If I do I’ll be sure to post it here.

You can find more of my bird photographs in the Birds Gallery.

My 10 Best Photos of 2011

reflection of mount shuksan in the silhouette of picture lake
Mount Shuksan Alpenglow

   It is always tough to narrow down a years worth of images into a list of the “best”. I did this last year and I think it is a valuable exercise. Jim Goldstein of JMG Galleries creates a list of everyone’s top 10 images each year. I made my first top 10 last year. This years list has fewer landscape and more wildlife photos. This is partly due to my not getting out to shoot as many landscapes as last year, and partly due to my backlog in image editing.

   You can click on each of the following images to go to the blog post that may tell a bit more about the location and how I made the photograph.

In no particular order my “Best of 2011″…

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Chickadees in the Backyard

black capped chickadee poecile atricapillus chestnut backed chickadee poecile rufescens

I was getting the itch to shoot something a few days ago but it wasn’t really the kind of day where I could go for a drive and find much interesting. Elected to go outside for a few minutes and see how long the birds coming the the backyard feeder felt like sitting still for me. Of the half dozen or so species out there, only two really will permit my presence near them – both Chickadees. The Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus ) and the Chestnut-Backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) tend to be willing subjects. One almost landed on my head before deciding that perhaps that would be a mistake.