In The Beginning . . .

Its been 6 years since I left Washington, D. C. and I haven't been back since. Many things have changed in my life since then. For example, I now know that there are more than Rock Pigeons (just plain old pigeons) and crows. Before arriving in the country, I had never seen a woodpecker. Now, I feed red-belly, hairy, downy, northern flickers, and pileated woodpeckers throughout the Winter. An occasional sap sucker drops by too. They get cold and need food, you know, and now I call them the "kids." When Spring arrives, out go the hummingbird feeders and the other Summer birds can then find wild food--except for the goldfinches who continue to get their nyjer. The house finches join them too. One must have goldfinches in the back yard during the Summer.

Before I go any further, let me explain how this all happened. I have about 2 acres of land in the country with the house occupying 1 acre and the woods occupying the other acre. The woods drop off about 100 feet to a creek. Then there is about 200 yards of valley until the hills rise opposite the creek. This creates a perfect spot for thermals where the big birds can fly and gain altitude. In short, its big bird heaven. Additionally, there is a large lake nearby where at least one pair of bald eagles nest. The big birds include, by approximate width of their wings: bald eagles, turkey vultures, osprey, canada geese, black vultures, and red-tailed hawks. Anything under a 4-foot wingspan is a little bird. Big bird season starts in October of each year. That is when the osprey move through the area for a couple of months and the bald eagles return in force. Some bald eagles remain the entire year while most move on around May. The other big birds are here year-round.

For the first year or so here, I worked in the yard building terraces (different levels in the back yard enclosed by 6" by 6" treated lumber) and planting about 200 shrubs, 70 roses, etc. A landscaper built the wood terraces and I filled them in with a mixture of soil, horse manure, and mushroom compost. While I was doing that, I began to notice my feathered friends--especially the turkey and black vultures. At first, I called them buzzards but then I realized how amazing they are. This led to the purchase of a digital camera a few years back. Of course, I began using the camera to take images of the birds. Over 99 percent of the images are taken from the yard, driveway, or deck.

Over the coming year, I hope to share the time I spend with the birds that feed and/or fly overhead. There will be images and stories here. All of my images of a bird will contain a link to All About Birds from the CornellLab of Ornithology. Most of the images will be taken during the upcoming year. However, some will be added from the past to tell a story.