I love the small birds that are always around us, but they rarely perch long enough in the open for me to photograph them. I spotted this energetic little Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) last Friday moving about in the vegetation at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and was happy when it paused for a second to pose for me.
The tiny bird was still for only a moment and then hopped off the branch and disappeared in the vegetation. I was thrilled when I looked at the image to see that I had captured a pretty clear view of the eye and that there was even a nice little catchlight—almost all of us who do portraits of any sorts are sort of obsessive about the eyes of our subjects.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I love the composition, Mike. Just the right amount of branch.
Thanks, Dan. Unlike some birds, chickadees don’t perch out in the open, so branches were inevitable in the shot. My goal was to minimize the distractions and I think careful focusing and composition allowed me to do that.
Wonderful image with great feather detail, Mike!
such a GREAT capture – the eye and he feather show so well!
That’s a nice shot!
I thought at first it was a black capped chickadee. We have them here and the males have been singing their spring mating calls already. I hope they know something I don’t!
The differences between the two species of chickadees is slight and I am making my call primarily based on the range maps of the species.
[…] my Bird painting inspired by bird photo in Mike’s post here […]