Torpor? Not me😬

This is a Carolina Chickadee. I have photographed this species once before. In fact, it may have been about this time last year. We saw a few of them after the snow fall this week.

You may wonder what they are doing here in this cold weather. They do not migrate, but this is about as far north as they are found.

This is an interesting fact is from wikipedia:

Carolina chickadees are able to lower their body temperatures to induce an intentional state of hypothermia called torpor. They do this to conserve energy during extremely cold winters. In extremely cold weather conditions they look for cavities where they can hide in and spend up to fifteen hours at a time in torpor; during this time they are awake but unresponsive; they should not be picked up and handled at this time, as the stress of being held may cause their death.

I need this skill. When we observed them, they were very active and not in torpor.

Cool bird.

~ Rick

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Rick’s latest technology muse:

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A Red Head

I added this photo to the video I posted a few weeks ago from Hawaii, but I did not share it here. This was a comon site ... the roam all over the island. I didn’t try to count them, but they were everywhere. This dude was loud too. I loved his colors .. and that red was so bright. He looked lean and mean.

~ Rick

---

Rick’s latest technology muse:

Check out our vlog, which includes more pictures and video on YouTube at tales.photos. Remember to subscribe!

Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2019 Rick Cartwright

Trailing Legs

This is one of my best photos of a Great Blue Heron in flight. She had just taken off, and I was in the right spot, with my camera pointing in the right direction.

The Great Blue has a unique flying style. They have that long neck that they have to deal with, and then those legs .. can’t just tuck those away, so they just let the legs follow, and lead with the neck.

~ Rick

---

Rick’s latest technology muse:

Check out our vlog, which includes more pictures and video on YouTube at [tales.photos](https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCFQDGQDunrIlKumTDIMUKwg). Remember to subscribe!\

*[Prints are available](https://www.tales.photos/prints-and-such/) for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.*

*©2019 Rick Cartwright*

What Pond Rules?

It has been several months since we saw a Belted Kingfisher. I think the last time was in May or maybe even April. I heard this guy making a lot of racket near the fishing pond at Big Woods while I was flying my drone. He was clearly living up to his name .. fishing in the pond. I wonder if he really knows the pond rules?

~ Rick

---

Rick’s latest technology muse:

Check out our vlog, which includes more pictures and video on YouTube at tales.photos. Remember to subscribe!

Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2019 Rick Cartwright

Staying Warm?

While out shooting photos of the trees on the bike trail, I hear this Northern Flicker . It took a few minutes to locate him, but I guess it was too windy and cold for him to fly away. This a a beautiful bird.

Some Northern Flicker do not migrate. I have seen them in the area on the coldest of winter days. I guess they are a hearty bird. He looked like he was trying to stay warm.

More from Wikipedia:

“The northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) or common flicker is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. Over 100 common names for the northern flicker are known, including yellowhammer (not to be confused with the Eurasian yellowhammer), clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. Many of these names derive from attempts to imitate some of its calls. (For much more info, follow the link to Wikipedia).

~ Rick

---

Rick’s latest technology muse:

Check out our vlog, which includes more pictures and video on YouTube at tales.photos. Remember to subscribe!

Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2019 Rick Cartwright'