The Carolina chickadees have fledglings. I would have thought it was way too early, but there they are, two puffy, fluffy-breasted birds bigger than their parents, sitting on a branch and screaming their darling little heads off. Their somewhat harried looking parents are flying back and forth from the suet feeder to their offsping and shoving suet down their throats. They can fly reasonably well, but they don’t seem to have mastered the whole “feeding oneself” thing.

Consulting the internet, it would appear that the chickadees could indeed have fledglings by now, although they would have to be at the early end of the breeding season. I tried to get some photos, and got several of each–although a group shot of all four eludes me–but it’s a cold, dark day, and I suspect they may not come out. Hopefully we’ll get a brighter day before the cute little balls of demanding fluff go elsewhere.