Traditional Feed-the-Birds Hike

Every year, we make it a tradition to go on a hike to feed the chickadees. Boogs loves these hikes. He has always been very patient while waiting for chickadees to land on his hand to get sunflower seeds.
This is a picture from 2006, the first year he went with us to feed the birds. He was 9 months old.

Boogs was bundled up in a snowsuit and sling to keep warm. I remember how still he would get while he watched the birds landing near him. We put some seeds on his arm and a few birds hopped on his arm. He would squeal with glee and then settle down and get very still and quiet to wait for more birds. He has always been a very patient child.

We were looking at photos of our past bird feeding hikes. Boogs noticed that he always wears a red and black jacket.

This year our hike was easier than usual because there was no snow. We still enjoyed hiking through the woods and feeding the birds. We actually took an extra long hike because it was such a warm day - around 30 degrees F.

We kept hearing this woodpecker pecking. It took us a while to locate him up in the top of a tall tree. We could barely see him.

These two look ready for a long walk.

 

Boogs had his own camera. I loved watching him decide what images he wanted to capture. He spent a long time by a partially frozen stream trying to get the light to shine "just right" on the ice so you could see the leaves trapped under the ice.

Daddy had no trouble getting the birds to eat out of his hand. He had to keep moving away from a squirrel who wanted to jump on his hand and grab a few seeds.

 GP likes to call to the birds to get them to come. They do.

Eventually, the squirrel made a leap to a nearby bird feeder. He came back to the feeder again and again while we were there.

 

Boogs' patience paid off. This little bird hopped on his hand and stayed for several seconds before flying off.

 For a little bit, it looked like they were communicating with each other.

 Boogs found a fallen tree to practice his balancing skills.

 Daddy and Boogs like to pick up big sticks and have stick sword fights.

 Lots and lots of sword fights.

 Grandmaman grabbed a stick and challenged Boogs to a duel.

 They could spend hours hunting for and playing with sticks.

Daddy took Boogs on an off-trail adventure. There were times we had no idea where they were. They always managed to find the trail back to us.

 Sometimes the going got tough off the trail.

I love this picture. Boogs is staring off into the trees.

Grandmaman said she enjoyed the hike. You can see Daddy and Boogs in the background with more sticks.

 

They were playing a game where a person lost if their stick was the first one to lose contact with the ground by hitting a bump. Because of the leaves and pine needles you could not always see the roots and rocks sticking up in the path.

 We were surprised at how empty the trails were. It was a great day for hiking.

We loved our bird feeding hike, even though there was no snow.

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