One of the regulars at my feeding station are the adorable little Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis). There is very rarely a day that I go out that there aren’t chickadees around. It’s not unusual for several to be waiting for me if I’m running later than usual. They usually fly in as a small group, often mixed with tufted titmice, calling excitedly to each other. Usually only one or two birds at a time fly down to eat. They seem to be equally comfortable eating from the ground or from the raised areas, and don’t generally mind having other small birds around. They aren’t too keen on being near the squirrels or some of the larger, noisier birds like the blue jays or the red bellied woodpeckers, though. They tend to grab a seed or two and head back into the trees to eat. Between that behavior and their dark caps that shade the eyes, I find them a bit of a challenge to photograph. They may stay for a while with different birds coming and going, or the whole group may disappear as quickly as they showed up. They’re always cute, and they’re always entertaining, and it’s nice to know that there will almost always be chickadees at the feeders, even if no one else shows up.