You Can't Hide Forever

Day 251: I will readily admit that this photo is not up to my customary "field guide" standard, but it marks the first time I have ever managed to get an identifiable shot of a Black-Capped Chickadee. The little buggers just like to hide from me!

I biked forty miles on the Yelm-Tenino and Chehalis-Western trails today, and that was after spending twenty minutes standing stock still beside the hazelnut bush where the Chickadees were playing. By the time I'd identified one combination of branches and leaves sufficiently that I could zoom in on it, my subjects (and there were several to choose from) had taken refuge behind something else. Oh, I got to see Chickadees hanging upside-down, darting from twig to twig. I got to see a lot of leaf-flutters as well, marking the passage of one of these little sweethearts into concealment in the heart of the bush. Short of Warblers, Chickadees have proven themselves to be one of the most difficult avian species for me to photograph. Today, I was not going to budge until I had one in the bag. You little stinkers can't hide from me forever!