Black-capped Chickadee: Kennebunk, Maine, February 2026 — On one of my photoprowls last week, with the temperatures still in the low teens, but the sun shining, I checked the little patch of overgrown wetland down the street. Nothing at all. I have seen cardinals there, and hawks on occasion, and juncos in winter…woodpeckers…finches…but on this visit, nada. Until I remembered to phish. “Phishing“ for those who do not know is making excited bird chatter sounds with your mouth…trying to imitate the sounds of a group of birds “mobbing” an intruder. And then “mobbing” is a bird behavior where a group of small birds will gather around an intruder and basically all yell “we see you” at the top of their voices, until the intruder decides to leave just to shut them up. When I phished, several chickadees appeared as though by magic. Not there, and then just there, right in front of me. And while we have chickadees at the feeder every day, many times a day (maybe even these same chickadees), seeing them at the feeder and seeing them in brushy wetland is somehow different. Or so it seems to me. I am not sure what it has in its beak…a tiny bit of bark or a tiny bug. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 450mm equivalent field of view. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.