Winter Song - Chickadees

Chicka-dee-dee-dee, chicka-dee-dee-dee is the call in the garden and the woodland that warms the coldest winter day. These bouncy balls of fluff with black cap and bib flit from twig to twig finding edible morsels of insect larvae and eggs. They always seem happy and full of energy and enjoying the company of others, including other species such as kinglets and nuthatches.

They do have another song sometimes heard in winter, but more often in spring. This is a clear whistle saying spring soon which sounds remarkably like the first notes of the white-throated sparrow.

In this picture I have tried to keep in tune with their mood by showing the bright red highbush cranberries and the white pine needles bursting through the clumps of snow.