7 Comments
Jan 7·edited Jan 7Liked by Sydney Michalski

Lovely. Such a special connection and your photos are beautiful. I need to upgrade my camera so I can get some flight shots like those! May I ask what camera you use? I have hand tamed chickadees, nuthatches, towhees, and juncos and am planning on writing a memoir about my adventures and relationships with them all over the years (I did write an article when I started hand feeding them, two decades ago.... I should resurrect it and share on Substack).

Expand full comment
author

Thanks! That will be a beautiful memoir, and you should definitely share that article! My camera is a Nikon D7000 with a AF-S Nikkor 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. It has a lot of miles on it, so I can only capture flight shots in some pretty specific lighting conditions. I'm hearing very good things about the new mirrorless options (which also have the benefit of being quiet, so as not to startle off your subjects) so I definitely recommend going that direction if you are able! Pamela Leavey here on Substack likes her new Nikon Z50, and Scott Bourne on Threads gives this recommendation: "the SONY a6700 paired w/ the Sony 70-350mm f4.5-6.3 G OSS. It's an affordable VERY high quality combo good for sports/wildlife on a budget w/ surprisingly great results."

Expand full comment

You're welcome, and thanks for the encouragement, and for the camera suggestions. I've heard a lot of good thing about the bridge camera Sony RX10 iv but I will definitely look into those you've mentioned as well. Yes, the mirrorless ones sound like a good step too.

Expand full comment
author

Of course, best wishes, and happy photographing!

Expand full comment

I love to do this on my hikes - especially during colder weather. It's interesting too how other bird species will follow the Black-capped Chickadees and join in. I usually see and handfeed White-breasted Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers. The Northern Cardinals are a little shy though and will stay back in the hedges. I like to makes sure the cardinals get some as well and will throw some seeds around on stumps and on the trail.

Expand full comment
author

That's so cool! We haven't actually had any luck yet feeding birds on hikes. It's true, as it gets colder, they do really seem to appreciate that you've now become the easiest food source in the area :) Here, the White-breasted Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers are very shy of us. I think it's so fascinating the way the same bird species may tolerate people differently in different areas - and then even the way individuals in the same group have different acceptance levels. We had one chickadee who was never brave enough to hand-feed, even after everyone else in the flock went first - we always had to leave him a little pile off to the side 🤣

Expand full comment

There's always that one chickadee! lol

Expand full comment