I love birds. I'm a bird nerd. I've been fascinated with birds since I was around 16. Have I been teased for partaking in what is conceived as an 'old person' past time? yep! Do I care? nope!
I've driven hours to find new species. Many years ago a friend took me to feed some chickadees. To be a little dramatic, it was life changing lol. I have only found a few things in life that grounds me, calms me, brings me peace: painting in my art studio, being by or on the water and immersing myself in nature with the birds.
There is something about connecting with the wild that brings me joy and makes me calm. It's about patience and trust. I've grown to adore chickadees and nuthatches. Chickadees are incredibly cute and charming, social, curious, gentle and playful. Their call is unmistakable and each one has their own little personality. I love the flutter sound their wings make and the clicking sound when they choose a seed and how softly they can land on your hand. Once they are comfy they will make themselves at home, finding a comfy spot on my shoulder, head, arms, boots and even my phone or camera gear. I've had hand visits from chickadees, nuthatches, downey woodpeckers, red winged black birds and super proud to say a juvenile male cardinal took a chance for a seed once. Now that was exciting lol! I love bringing along my macro lens. The up-close and personal images are fun to try and capture.
I also enjoy translating my love for birds through my art. I've mostly done watercolour paintings in my sketchbooks over the years but recently have tried some acrylic paintings. They seem to be popular so I am working on more. I love exploring new techniques and really just intuitively go with the flow and trust the process. If I don't like where the piece is going, I change it up. Here are few of my latest pieces.
Winter Chickadee
Spring Chickadee
Blizzard Chickadee
Watercolour Nuthatch
If you've got a few minutes to spare and want to see a little compilation check out the little video below:
To be as responsible as possible I follow the guidelines and suggestions set out by the RBG:
A great example and further information can be taken from an article the Royal Botanical Gardens:
"For anyone whose heart is set on feeding, we recommend offering no more than a handful of high-quality food, such as black oil sunflower seeds, and making sure not to leave any behind. While peanuts and nuts are high in energy, some trail visitors have allergies and peanut contamination of the trails has caused anaphylactic reactions. So that everyone can safely enjoy nature, please leave nuts at home and don’t leave any food behind. Remember, when it comes to feeding wildlife in places like this, “less is best”."
Just gonna leave you with a favourite little quote to always remember while out visiting with mother nature:
Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos and kill nothing but time.
Thanks for being here. Catch ya later.