A Bird in the Hand

Well,
If you stop here on a regular basis (and who would since I don't write often) you know that I love birds. Watching them in my yard, my commute or wherever I can is something I really love. I have read that one of my favorite backyard birds, the chickadee can be easily enticed to eat from your hand. Well, don't belive it. I spent over an hour all total this weekend trying, but I had no luck. I did notice however that they gradually gave less urgent distress called. Eventually they stopped their alerts altogether. Chickadees are named for their alert call. When they feel threatened, they issue a raspy 'Chicka dee dee dee" the number of 'dees' they add is directly related to how severe the threat is perceived to be.
When I first set out with a handful of food, I heard one issue a ten 'dee' call. Quickly they downgraded it to eight, four, two and then they stopped altogether. Soon after the distress signals ceased, I heard flapping very close to my head. I saw one perch only a couple feet away. I was glad they were no longer scared, and I was just certain that soon one would swoop down to steal a seed. Well, it didn't happen but I did love having birds all around me on this quiet warm (30's) winter day. My husband thinks I'm a bit nutty with the birds. I'm just positive I will get this to happen soon. The birds that were close to me (the only ones I could spy without moving my head) were dark eyed juncos (commonly called snowbirds because they spend their winters here and in warm weather they live in northern Canada), Chipping sparrows (they have a chestut cap) and of course my beloved chickadees. I heard a woodpecker up on our dying tree, but I couldn't lift my head to see it. Most likely that was a downy woodpecker, they are the most common type I see. This morning I did get a thrilling glimpse of a Pileated woodpecker. We saw them somewhat often in the summer but this weinter they've been a rare site until recently.