There’s an old saying that ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’…and this is especially true when it comes to photography.

I had the opportunity this morning to visit the Hendrie Valley Sanctuary at the Royal Botanical Gardens in the Hamilton Ontario area.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

After taking some images of a few birds in flight I ventured down the Grindstone Marshes Trail at the sanctuary to capture some images of perched birds.

The birds at the sanctuary are very acclimatized to people and it is possible to get quite close to them. Close enough that some of them, like the black capped chickadees in this article, will land and eat seeds from your hand.

A few young mothers were at the sanctuary with their toddlers and it was heart-warming to watch their children stare in amazement as the birds landed on their mothers’ hands to feed.

It occurred to me that is a wonderful way to introduce children to the wonders of nature and for them to hopefully begin a lifelong appreciation for the natural world and its conservation.

All images in this article were shot hand-held in available light using a Nikon 1 V2 and 1 Nikon CX 70-300 mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. I used Manual settings with centre-weighted metering.

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Article and all images Copyright Thomas Stirr. All rights reserved. No use, duplication or adaptation of any kind is allowed without written consent. If you see this article reproduced anywhere else it is an unauthorized and illegal use.