Unexpected Visitor

Yesterday while shooting a high school senior, a bird landed right on the shoulder of my lighting assistant (the student's mother). After about the first 5 minutes we went on taking portraits and the bird just stayed there, looking around. Hung out with us for more than 15 minutes then finally flew away.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/zt2K​t7

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/yxdD​1R

Very cool.

That first one is a great pic! If only birding were always this easy.

Awesome!

Nice, wanting handouts! Sometimes I get bored with the lack of birds to shoot on my farm--it's mostly fields around here. Winter can bring in some birds that many people don't get to see. Back in 2010 it was really cold, and we had a lot of snow making it hard for the arctic migrants. I started putting out niger, cracked corn, and sunflower seed on my back patio. Within a couple of days I had 150+ Horned larks, Lapland longspurs, and Snow buntings eating in front of my sliding glass door. Eventually they figured out I was the source of breakfast and dinner, and would come flying up out of the field when I would come out to feed them. It was really amazing to have all of these birds running around me waiting for food! I still have to hit the local parks if I want to get a variety of birds to shoot, but winter here can be exciting if conditions get rough.

That is very unusual behavior for a white-breasted nuthatch. The little red-breasted variety is quite bold and amiable, but not so the white-breasted variety; they are usually difficult to get close to.

Friendly little guy (or gal)

Very cool - great shot!

CDMOOSE wrote in post #17734955
That is very unusual behavior for a white-breasted nuthatch. The little red-breasted variety is quite bold and amiable, but not so the white-breasted variety; they are usually difficult to get close to.

Yes, very unusual. This was a young one I think. It flew up to her shoulder but I don't think this bird had too many flights before this one. I pretty sure we heard a mother bird squawking at first. A few minutes after I took this it was sitting up on its feet and getting more comfortable. After about 15 minutes we weren't sure what to do and she walked over towards the trees and it finally flew away. Cool experience.

Great shots! My first thought when something unusual like this happens...someone that has passed away has come back to visit during a special occasion! I love stuff like this. I was at a wedding a week ago and a cat jumped up on the arch behind the groom just before the bride came down the isle of the outdoor wedding. The cat remained for part of the service, then jumped down, and walked down the isle! I got pictures, and so didn't lots of other people!

Very cool Mike.