Two chicks...

I have a bird feeder and heated bath on my deck for excellent bird watching from the kitchen.
Something larger than the average bird caught my eye this morning... a Partridge Rock pullet sharing breakfast with a chickadee!
In order to get to this feeder the pullet had to go a good distance from her coop, up 3 steps, over the deck, up on the deck rail. The chickadee didn't seem to mind sharing. Another example of my "everyone here must get along" rule in action!

Hard frost...

The thermometer outside the front door read 27 F. this morning. There was frost spangling the grass and coating the handles of the garden tools. It decorated the milk weed nicely.

It was cozy in the chicken coop, though... 40 F!

Both the domestic and wild animals were happy when I dished out breakfast of sunflower seeds, grain, cracked corn and some nuts. I love to watch them enjoy a good meal, especially on a cold and frosty morning.

Chickadees...

Yesterday I took my camera out when I filled the bird feeders. I leaned against the rough bark of a pine tree and just listened for a while. When the ground is covered with snow the world seems hushed; sounds are muffled. But there, under the pines, the air was rife with the sweet calls of chickadees. And more than that, the nearly buzzing sound of the chill air on their feathers as they flew.
There were 10 or more zooming from the hedge to the trees to the feeder and back. I caught a few good photos. I particularly like the gleam in the eye of this tiny bird. They seemed unworried by my presence there. I am adding the following goal to my list for 2010... I want to have a Chickadee land on my hand. I would love to feel that vibrant energy against my skin, even if only for one swift second.