The Smallest of Windows

Temps have been hovering barely at double digits as the sun first says hello. The dew point is low enough that hoarfrost has been forming this past week. On days with no sun it actually sticks all day. It’s simply gorgeous! Those days with sun, it’s a race to see it. The hoarfrost outlines everything in a fine, white lines which is so different from when there is snow on the vegetation. You just breath on a branch with hoarfrost and it disappears like magic. And if the sun hits it, it’s gone in a flash! That’s the race each morning it appears.

We have Black-capped Chickadees here at the homestead. At first, just one and now, a flock of about 20+. I keep looking for them in the morning (no luck so far) as they all pile out of a single cavity where they spend the night huddled together for warmth. They are little puff balls early in the morning, all fluffed out to stay warm. The shot I have in my mind (which I don’t have yet) is one of these puff balls perched on a single limb covered in hoarfrost. They love this one particular tree so I stand out on the deck prefocused on that one branch waiting. As you can see in the photos below, it’s a pretty visually busy tree. It’s great practice as I move the Z600f4 TC from spot to spot as they land, shooting and then going back to my ideal perch, focusing and waiting. I love it. But the clock is always ticking.

I’m working at the MFD of the Z600f4 TC so I’m close to the action. It’s like a tennis match as I watch the flock move in and out feeding. Last week I saw a flash of color I’d not seen before. When it stopped for a moment (chickadees don’t hold still) I saw it was a Chestnut-backed Chickadee, a new bird for the homestead. Then today I saw a white eyebrow and knew that wasn’t normal here and saw it was a Mountain Chickadee. The Chestnut-backed, we are at its southern most range in MT. And the Mountain, this is low in elevation for it. I was excited to see them both with our Black-caps and the challenge of photographing them offers. But my original challenge remains, fluff ball on hoarfrost. I’ll be out tomorrow again if it forms with the little guys until the sun appears trying to get the shot in the smallest of windows!