Spring is very slow coming in Maine this year, despite what the calendar says, despite the position of the sun in the sky. Daytime temperatures above freezing are still rare enough for celebration, and we still have many nights in the teens and even single digits. It was below zero one night this week, and there is still two feet of snow where the crocus bloom under our cherry tree…and more than that by the mailbox at the end of the drive where the snow plow piled it. This shot is from one of those rare warmish days with the sun shinning, when I was able to get out on the deck when the feeder birds were active, and capture a few without shooting through the thermopane glass of the deck door. Titmouse on a branch.

Both the Titmice and the Chickadees will come to the feeder, 10 feet away, if I stand quietly on the deck, camera at the ready. I even had a Downy Woodpecker come to the suet blocks while I was there. It makes for great images, of course, but it is just a grin-inducing-experience (I think I will register a trademark on that: GIE. Pronounced “gee” Grin-inducing-experience!). Yup, being that close to living birds, especially small birds like Titmice, Chickadees, and Downies…is a GIE for sure!

Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent. Shutter preferred. 1/800th @ ISO 250 @ f7.1. Processed in Snapseed and Handy Photo on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.