Bird In The Hand

Day 328: After an absence of many years, the Pine Siskins returned early this last spring and have been constant visitors to the feeder since that time. They are gregarious little birds, and often I've had to shoo them away in order to add more seed.

This morning as I was watering the garden, I came very close to spraying one with the hose because I hadn't noticed him hanging onto the wire mesh. When I finished, I walked past, surprised at how close I could get. Just as an experiment, I brought a finger close to his feet. He simply kept on eating, allowing me then to place my hand behind him. I touched a foot. No change. Okay, that decided the next course of action: go get the camera.

When I went back out, he was still merrily munching away. I put some nyjer seed in my hand and then took several shots as I edged closer. When I tried to get him onto my hand, he moved around to the back side of the feeder. I tried again, and this time, he flew down to the garden. I knelt down and put my hand under his breast. One little foot came up and rested on my finger. I lifted...and there he was. It took him all of two seconds to discover the palmful of seed.

I couldn't decide which picture to post, one of these or one up against the contorted filbert you see in the upper right corners. Yes, we went for a little walk, just like this, and when he'd finally had his fill, he hopped into the filbert, still not the least bit perturbed by his first contact with a human.