A FIRST FOR ME ~ hand-feeding ~ SMAP ROUND 205

After watching a video I thought maybe I could pull this off.

A gentleman in a video that I just recently watched was feeding Black-capped Chickadees from his hand. He made several key points that needed to be followed if you were going to have any luck doing the same.

• Constant supply of seed in the same location.
• They must get used to your presence.
• use black-oiled sunflower seeds.
• must have Black-capped Chickadees in the area.
• keep any movements to a minimum.

For the past several months the snow has been piling up. Rather than filling the bird feeders I've been shoveling off the front deck and scattering seed all around. Black-capped Chickadees have been feeding from the deck nonstop. I've spent hours observing them devour every morsel. It seemed to me that all of the suggestions he made I had been doing for a while.

After sitting quietly for several minutes with my gloves off, the freezing temps had me contemplating putting my gloves back on. Just about when I was going to give up a bird landed in my hand. The excitement had me forget about the numbness as one bird after another fed from my palm.

It was not easy to get the pictures, feeding with one hand and snapping off one picture after the next with the other hand was a challenge. I must have taken 100 pictures. After going through all of them I was delighted with some of the shots. I even caught the birds in flight just before landing.

I was surprised by the patience they showed as the next bird would be in the on-deck circle waiting for its turn to feed from my hand.

For the past several days the chickadees and I have become great friends. Within a few minutes, they now land, feed, and return in rapid succession. WHAT A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE!