As promised from yesterday's post "THE NEWS!"

Those that know my work from way back, know that I shot nature and wildlife for years and was a Field Contributor for Nature Photographer magazine. I've been blessed to have a plethora of wildlife right here in my backyard (literally!)

There has always been this one caveat hindering my ability to really capture the full beauty of the wildlife that passes my windows...and there are... there dreaded window grids, or as Paul and I like to refer to as "rick-rack." I hate them, yes, that's right! I said it, I HATE them!

I have always had to maneuver between 8 x 10-inch squares to get the shot and when I have a big buck walking past my window, Gracie Claire and Coco, or "the kids" (the raccoon family of five we have living here) I have to always shoot through a square--well no more! I LOVE my new windows!!

I couldn't believe how much they opened up the room and made it look bigger. They will take a little getting used to at night, because there is a little bit of "creep factor," because believe it or not the grids did offer some privacy, or at least the feeling of privacy--now it's as though I can touch the darkness.

I'll gladly deal with the "creepy factor" to have these two spacious-grid free pieces of glass from which I hope to get some amazing photos this summer!

There is one drawback we've already noticed within the past 24 hours of having the windows installed... and that is that the birds are used to the grids, so we rarely had them crashing into the windows. They'd bump from time to time, but this morning we heard a "thud!" I was almost hysterical and thankfully Paul rushed to this little guy's aid. I thought he was a goner, but Paul took some time with him and eventually he flew off--success!

The owl came back tonight!

I've been watching for this little guy since the other night when I first saw him. Tonight we came in from the snow and there he was sitting on one of the bird feeders. I was so happy to see him, but I needed to cook dinner and when I came back from doing the dinner dishes, he was still out there!

A new visitor tonight...

I was working in my office tonight and I must admit, I have this knack for knowing when something in my yard shouldn't be there. It can be almost completely dark, but if one shadow is out of place, or something shouldn't be out there, I can tell. (OK, not fair, I was asleep when the bear came to visit...)

Well, I looked up at what we call "the bird condo" that Paul built a few years back and I saw something up there, but it was so dark I couldn't make it out. Paul was in the living room with his headset on listening to music on his computer, so I im'd him to "Drop whatever you're doing and come in here quickly and quietly."

Paul came in and I had my flashlight on it, but neither Paul, or I couldn't tell what it was as it's head was turned away from us and then I asked Paul to grab the granddaddy of flashlights while I grabbed my camera.

It wasn't until I was looking through a 200mm lens, I saw what it was--An owl! This was exciting, because we've seen a lot of different birds and wildlife in our yard (just last night we saw a five point buck saunter past my office window about midnight,) but we've never seen an owl on our property.

New kids on the block...

Yesterday I noticed a couple new kids on the block! This was the first time I've ever seen these birds. According to my research they are Grosbeaks, "Evening Grosbeaks." Their bill is large and appears quite strong. They make the most curious poses and expressions and have a distinguishable call, a high-pitched chirp.

Right outside my window

Since our weather has been so nice the past few days, the hummingbirds have been "frequent flyer's" to the feeders and I've setup a remote camera setup trying to capture them in flight. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance to photograph hummingbirds. While waiting for the hummingbirds to visit, I've been able to photography the other animals that have passed my window.

Nature photographer's dream...

I am passionate about nature and wildlife photography and to see these wonderful creatures when I come into my office most mornings is just fantastic!

Chickadees nest in entry

We're watching a pair of Chickadees that decided the lantern next to our front door would be a suitable place to build their nest.

I was sitting outside one day watching this pair gather leaves, pine needles and various other nesting materials and then taking off near the door. I was curious where they were packing off their cache and much to my surprise it was right next to our front door.

It's amazing how hard these little birds work to build a nest! This one took just about four hours and then half of it fell to the ground and within two hours, it was back up and ready for eggs. The eggs look big, but they're about the size of a marble. The opening of the nest is only about 3 inches.

Had I known they were going to build where they did, I would have rigged a camera and remote shutter trip, but by the time I saw the nest, it was not responsible to attempt the camera setup as it would have posed too much stress to the pair.

I hope to post photos of the progress. One-week ago there were two eggs in the nest and two days later there were four!

I'll keep you posted...

Julia