Thinking

Yesterday morning I played with the chickadees again in my backyard. Towards the end of summer the number of species of birds visiting my bird feeders dwindles down to just a few birds. Chickadees and Steller's Jays being the most prolific followed by Juncos, Band-tailed Pigeons and a few Mountain Quail. Here is my favorite image from yesterday's full line up of Chestnut Backed Chickadee images. I liked the intent searching look. It's like the chickadee is thinking very hard,"Is there really bird seed down there?"

My new book "Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography" is soon to be released on Sept.11th and is currently being shipped to retailers. I'm excited! Please check it out on Amazon and other fine book sellers. Get your Christmas shopping done early as it is the perfect Christmas present for a birder or photographer you may know. It is available as a preorder. This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens at 310mm with a Manfotto 055XB tripod and a Bogen 3055 ballhead. Camera setting used AV mode, ISO 400, F 6.3 and shutter speeds of 1/1,250th of a sec. God's love and blessings to all,chris