Black-capped Chickadee.

[Daniel Cadieux]

It's the time of the year when the ponds have frozen over, driving most waterfowl farther in to the river and out of photographic range, and winter finches have yet to arrive in good numbers. This is the perfect time to catch up to our resident birds, the otherwise forgotten ones. Here locally Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers (as well as some others) fall into this category.

Chickadees and Nuthatches in particular are always seemingly happy to accompany us along the quiet woods, patiently waiting for handouts - especially in local nature trails where they are habituated to human presence. The good thing about phographing them is that they are easy to lure onto set-up perches with pleasing backgrounds and good light (and its angle). Here, just below the frame, is a small bag of black-oil sunflower seeds that these birds just love and flock around to inspect and eat.

Canon 40D + 100-400L at 400mm, aperture priority, evaluative metering, 1/500s., f/6.3, ISO 800, no EC. Small crop for comp.

[Gary Hamilton]

I love the anticipatory pose as this one waits for his or her turn at the "feeder." Nice details, BKGD and perch, too. It's true, we can't forget our backyard regulars.

[Bill Jobes]

Love the image, Daniel !

The detail, colors and perch angle make for a very beautiful and compelling image.

I too take great pleasure in seeking out the unsung 'common' birds that seem to get lost in the web's blaze of color and exotica.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

nice looking bird with a beautiful bg,details,perch!

[Arno Ellmer]

excellent capture ,Daniel !
I like the the posture and the diagonal perch with the tail parallel to it ! Also the good detail . :)

[Bhushan Dalvi]

Daniel, beautiful capture. Love the HA and the smooth BG.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Very neat image, Daniel. Superb bg, pose and exposure. The perch has so much character and the light is nice and soft. Did you use a hide?

[Christopher Marek]

Agree with all the others. I do wonder what the background is.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks all!

Christopher, the background is a dried-leaf covered mound on the forest floor (about 30 feet back).

[Pieter de Waal]

Lovely image Daniel, like the pose and carefully selected perch with moss covering. Exposure in blacks and whites is great bringing out the detail in the fine feathers. Your images of the smaller fry are allways excellent.

Do you not get interference from passers by with a set up like this or is it not a heavily trafficked area.?

[MohsenVahedipour]

Hi Daniel,
Very nice pose & perch with superb detail & sharpness. TFS

[James Salywoda]

Wow! Such a beauty I really like the background and excellent detail Daniel.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very neat image, Daniel. Superb bg, pose and exposure. The perch has so much character and the light is nice and soft. Did you use a hide?

Thanks Sidharth...sorry I missed your question earlier. No hide for these guys. Chickadees here will feed right out of your hand. It's amazing when you pull out a bag of seeds and about a dozen of them (and a few nuthatches) flock around you:cool:


Lovely image Daniel, like the pose and carefully selected perch with moss covering. Exposure in blacks and whites is great bringing out the detail in the fine feathers. Your images of the smaller fry are allways excellent.

Do you not get interference from passers by with a set up like this or is it not a heavily trafficked area.?

If I'd stick to the path, yes, but I always cut out deeper into the woods and hidden from public. There is no restrictions about staying on the trail in most of our local nature haunts so I use that to my advantage!

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Dan, I like angled pose, looks like he's on a snowboard on a downhill run.:) You have nailed the exposure and sharpness, and I like the foliage on the perch.

[Kiran Poonacha]

loved the soft feel to the frame DC.. loved the out of frame interest in the birds pose too... nicely done..

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, perch, sharpness and BG. Great image Daniel!