Passion Project – My Backyard Birds - Photo Description: A chestnut-backed chickadee perches on my hand which hold some peanuts. Taken April 12, 2024.

Developing, and maintaining a very special and personal relationship with my backyard birds has been a passion of mine for the past 20 years. Connecting with my little “tweet-hearts” has been such a gift and privilege. I’ve learned so much about the different personalities of both individuals and species (especially chickadees, nuthatches, juncos, and towhees). Over the years, I’ve watched parents raise nestlings into fledglings who’ve become adults; and I’ve sat quietly in the presence of certain individuals who became weakened or ill and ultimately passed. Connecting with them and bearing witness to their joys, and triumphs, challenges and losses has deepened my love for and appreciation of, not just birds, but also of the wider and wilder world in general. Our friendships and adventures together is turning into another passion project – I’ve begun writing a book in which to express some of the magic I’ve experienced with my my feathered friends and other wild creatures, and to share some of their individual stories as well. My wish is to help myself and others to understand, value and cherish the natural world more deeply.