Close ups

It was another rainy, dreary day here today, and as I had a few things I wanted to get done around my apartment I figured I'd most likely end up taking some bird photos. However, we're at the point in the Vermont year when me sitting here with my window wide open for extended periods of time just wasn't going to be happening. So after I came back from the post office I took the screen out and cleaned both the inside and outside of the bottom pane—I imagine anyone who happened to go by probably did a double take upon seeing someone out washing one of their windows in the rain. The results were definitely worth a few minutes of looking a bit weirder than usual, though, so I'm not too worried about it.

To start things off, a female and male Purple Finch sitting side-by-side on the feeder; I liked this one because of the beads of water you can see on the male's back and tail:



The male shaking out his feathers:





A Chickadee joined the finches, but shortly after I took this shot something startled all three off the feeder:



I just liked this pose:



Enjoying a bite to eat:





As you can see, I just barely caught the incoming Chickadee in the frame with this shot:



A better look at the duo:



They were able to share the feeder peacefully for a few minutes:



But only for a few minutes:





Quite the heroic pose:



Loved how this Titmouse picture came out:



I found it interesting that these two Titmice chose the exact same perches as the two Chickadees. Then again, there's only six spots on the feeder, so I imagine the chances of such a thing happening are actually pretty high:



I liked how in this one you can see a bit of the bird's tongue:



Stretching out to take a look around:



Not quite as in focus as I'd have preferred, but still not too bad:



A couple more Chickadee shots I liked:





A close look at a Purple Finch:



It was completely unintentional on my part, but as it turns out the last shots I took today mirrored the first ones I took, at least in terms of the birds and their positions on the feeder. So it seemed like a good way to close out today's post as well: