Exciting Times

It has been an exciting week. On Sunday night, the Steelers snatched a ticket to the Superbowl. While I don't watch sports at all I am happy when my new hometown's teams do well. I have proudly supplied my nephew (and subsequently, his younger cousins) with T-shirts and/or hats from Pittsburgh's sports teams.
On Monday, I gave my second speech at Toastmasters. The theme was "A Day of Service" and I spoke about attracting birds to your backyard. I stressed that I hope that my bird and nature photos will encourage other people to protect birds and their environment. Naturally, I took along photos of birds at feeders. The speech was well received and I even had to answer questions afterward. A friend in Germany e-mailed me that she recently put up a birdfeeder and that it was one of the best investments she made recently. She greatly enjoys watching the birds and thinks of my photos while doing it. What a great compliment!
On Tuesday, of course, was Inauguration Day. My writing critique group, which meets every second Tuesday, decided to meet at a friend's house to discuss our writing and watch the swearing in and speech afterward. Later, it occurred to me that three of us weren't even born here. Pittsburgh is indeed a melting pot.

Great Backyard Bird Count

If you care about birds, please put the Great Backyard Bird Count on your calendar. It takes place February 13 - 16 this year. For instructions and checklists, read www.birdsource.org. Basically, all you need to do is to count birds for at least 15 minutes. You may, of course, count them much longer.

Squirrel Update

This morning, we woke up to a sight we never expected to see again: There was a squirrel on our squirrel-proof feeder. We have no idea how it got up there, but suspect that it jumped from the ground. The neighbor's barn and pear tree are a bit too far away for a squirrel to jump over. So, we might have to add another piece to our bird feeder pole. The only problem is that, at my short stature, I might not be able to fill the feeders anymore. Oh well, those little critters sure can make life difficult.
Our bird feeders are very busy this time of winter. They have been raided by a flock of grackles this week. Yesterday, we witnessed a huge flock of red-winged blackbirds in our yard. We have never seen any blackbirds at this time of year and have no clue where they came from or where they're heading. Spring and fall are their usual migration times. Where they lost or trying to avoid bad weather elsewhere? Other than that, we see the usual suspects: lots of cardinals; chickadees; tufted titmice; downy, hairy, and red-bellied woodpeckers; juncos; finches; and, of course, sparrows and doves. Not to mention squirrels...

Published Again

Last summer, I sold three photo features in quick succession. The wait between contract and publication is always a long one. Finally, yesterday I received the January/February 2009 issue of Pennsylvania Magazine with my four-page article "Beaks to Bills." It looks very nice and includes some of my favorite bird photos.
Now I am waiting for the other two articles to be published. They feature, of course, more birds. One highlights the festival of the birds at Presque Isle, which will take place again next May. The other article will be published in Pursuits Magazine, a magazine issued by the Pennsylvania Tourism Office.
Do you see a pattern here? Well, I'm now working on an idea that has nothing to do with birds, just to break the monotony...