Over the summer I have seen very few Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) at my feeding station. There have been plenty of tufted titmouse and cardinals, but only the incidental chickadee. I guess they have been busy raising their families and enjoying the summer bounty of insects and seeds that this area has to offer. For this reason, I was really pleased when I ran across this little one on a hike two weeks ago. I began starting to see them a bit more frequently just about that time and now several of them are around almost every day. During the summer months these birds pair up for breeding purposes and defend small territories, but during the fall they come back together in small flocks that defend a larger territory. The flocks tend to be made up of several local pairs, but sometimes there are individuals who come and go. I often see these guys hanging out with groups of tufted titmouse. All just another sign that summer is coming to an end.