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I spent part of yesterday trying to get more familiar with my new camera by taking lots of shots of the birds at the feeder outside our livingroom window.

Yesterday this feeder was very busy with Chipping Sparrows. Several would crowd onto it while others lined up and waited on nearby perches - a fence, a wooden windchime, a hanging basket and the branches of a wisteria. Some would give up and settle for scavenging for seeds on the ground below the feeder.


Given the number of birds involved, there was inevitably a lot of squabbling and jockeying for position.


After a while, the birds were so used to me that they let me approach within about 3 feet, which allowed me to appreciate just how beautiful they are - and to take some close-up portraits.











All the activity at the feeder caught the attention of other birds, including this House Sparrow, a bird that visits our yards only a couple of times a year.