This Chickadee was zipping around in the tree line and surprised me when he landed very close. Too close to get him all in focus before he flitted away.

I watched him go in a hole in a dead tree branch. He spent some time enlarging the hole, paused again for a look around, and then flew away. I waited but he did not return. I’ve been by the branch a few times since then and don’t see any sign of activity.

I’m calling it a Carolina Chickadee based on Cornell’s explanation that the range of the Carolina and Black Capped versions do not overlap. They also say there are differences in their voices, but my ear is not that good to distinguish a “a four-noted song, and a faster chick-a-dee call.”

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