My first Red-Breasted Nuthatch

I have a bunch of White-Breasted Nuthatches that have always been feeding in my backyard, but this little guy was the first I ever saw here - he showed up last Sunday after the snowfall we had on Saturday. Time to grab some warm clothes and the camera, sneak as discreetly as I could to a well situated shady spot, and after 10 mn he and his friends came back and let me shoot 120 pics in a little over 1 hour.

Thanks for looking; C&C welcome.
... and Happy New Year...

1.

Cute bird. I always feel good anytime I get a nuthatch photo. These little birds are fast. A flash would help bring out their eyes and other details.

Nuthatches are so fun to watch.
They hang upside so much it makes you wonder how to take the shot.
Great job on these.

Congrats Gereard, I am in the boat you just got off of! Whites are here all year, I have yet to see a red.
Excellent shots, great IQ.

DanThoman wrote in post #15431491
Cute bird. I always feel good anytime I get a nuthatch photo. These little birds are fast. A flash would help bring out their eyes and other details.

Thank Dan; you are right, but I try to avoid the flash and keep it "natural".

jhayesvw wrote in post #15431626
Nuthatches are so fun to watch.
They hang upside so much it makes you wonder how to take the shot.
Great job on these.

Thanks Jeremy.

BGgraphy wrote in post #15431737
Congrats Gereard, I am in the boat you just got off of! Whites are here all year, I have yet to see a red.
Excellent shots, great IQ.

Thanks for the compliment Bret, appreciate.

Congratulations on your find. You can hand-feed these little fellows quite regularly, as opposed to their white-breasted cousins.
Al

Very cool. We had an invasion of these in Florida this year, very unusual. Excellent pics

Like that second one

Congratulations on the new one. These are all good shots but I like the sharpness and exposure in number 1.

CDMOOSE wrote in post #15431964
Congratulations on your find. You can hand-feed these little fellows quite regularly, as opposed to their white-breasted cousins.
Al

Thanks Al, I'm not there yet, not hanging in the backyard often enough - but if I move slowly they let me approach close enough (12 / 15 ft maybe), even the White ones.

Pauhana wrote in post #15432140
Very cool. We had an invasion of these in Florida this year, very unusual. Excellent pics

Thank you; not really an "invasion" here - I think I got only one - I saw him today again.

Flo wrote in post #15432164
Like that second one

Thanks Flo; he was all ruffled up against the cold wind.

Don1 wrote in post #15432252
Congratulations on the new one. These are all good shots but I like the sharpness and exposure in number 1.

Thank you Don.

Good looking shots of the little guy Gerard... I have the opposite here on my ridge, many RB Nuthatches and a rarity to have a White-breasted Nuthatch around... However, this year I have had a male and female White-breasted Nuthatch here since October. I have a RB Nuthatch I call "Norris" and have been hand feeding him and his buddies for the last 5 years... a long time for a little bird to survive on the "frozen tundra."

Dave

dbriz wrote in post #15433199
Good looking shots of the little guy Gerard... I have the opposite here on my ridge, many RB Nuthatches and a rarity to have a White-breasted Nuthatch around... However, this year I have had a male and female White-breasted Nuthatch here since October. I have a RB Nuthatch I call "Norris" and have been hand feeding him and his buddies for the last 5 years... a long time for a little bird to survive on the "frozen tundra."

Dave

Thanks Dave. I like to think that we help them go through the most difficult times by feeding them - while they did not need us to survive and thrive through the centuries, I guess that by feeding them we improve the odds of more of them making it through the winters...