Tufted Titmouse chick - New Jersey

Tufted Titmouse fledgling:

On this particular afternoon, I was walking through the woods looking for critters to photograph. About a mile in, I started to hear a familiar sounds but yet somewhat different. Few tones were matching a songbird I’ve heard before but the rest was off-key. You know, like those songs sang by American Idol candidates that never go through the preliminary audition🙈 I spent few minutes trying to locate the bird and there it was, this just fledged chick staring at the human 😄 I had no idea what species it was exactly until an adult bird came to a view. And then it hit me, it’s a Tufted Titmouse! How cool! Few seconds later, it turned out that there was one more chick and adult bird just few feet away. At that moment, I realized that most likely chicks just left the nest and parents were trying to navigate chicks through the woods by calling them every so often. After this shot was taken, chicks spent most of the time on the ground walking and only taking a short flight once they heard parent’s call. The first time I saw their flight, I started laughing. It looked like a butterfly that ate way too much and couldn’t get enough lift to fly more than few inches. So funny but so cute😍 As they rested in this particular area for a moment, I grabbed few shots, recorded few short video clips, and left them alone as they continued to move away. Pretty quickly I lost a sight of them but I could still hear the parents and chicks communicating with each other for another few moments. What a fun encounter that was! I wish, I could watch them longer but the sun was about to set and both parties needed to get home before the darkness 😉

Close-up of a just fledged Tufted Titmouse chick - New Jersey

Moral of this story is pretty clear I think. Your hearing and curiosity is one of the most important tools when it comes to finding birds to photograph. Even if you hear a common bird, it is still worth checking it out. Who knows what you will find!

Keep those ears wide open! 😄

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