.

.
Borrego Springs, CA

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Bird Lady of Blog Land?

There was a comment left on my last post, by Rick, that I was certainly the Bird Lady of Blog Land.  What memories that brought back.  In a couple of my former lives, similar titles have been bestowed upon me.  (Titles sounds rather presumptuous, but I couldn’t think of a better word.)   When the kids were growing up, and we lived in Upstate New York, besides raising pigs for 4-H, I was a federally licensed bird bander, and became known as the Bird Lady of Newark Valley. 

It was a small town, and everyone knew that I ran an Atlantic Flyway migration bird banding station on ten acres on the outskirts of town.  What that meant to the folks of that rural area was that any injured birds were brought to me in various containers.  I remember a green heron in a hamster cage from two little old ladies, a crow in a pillowcase on Christmas Eve, and a great horned owl in a small shoebox from a local farmer!  I also got a call to get a kestrel out of a police station, a starling out of a chimney, and a great horned owl out of the high school soccer net.  I was not a bird rehabilitator, but I could never turn those folks down when they came calling.  :)  Many of these folks I didn’t know, but they knew that the ‘bird lady’ lived on Bridge Street!

Time marched on, all of the kids were in school; I gave up my tax collector job; and went back to teaching in a juvenile corrections facility (high security prison).  Most of the young men in that facility were from Brooklyn and the Bronx, and had no idea what a bird was.  That’s when I first became known as the ‘Bird Lady of Alcatraz.’   Several years later, I moved to Minnesota and worked at a medium security men’s prison where the aka moniker followed me.  So I guess I’ve been known as the bird lady of ‘something’ for close to 30 years.  I just hope I don’t start sprouting feathers!  :)  Thanks, Rick, for giving me a stroll down memory lane!
_MG_4476Since I’m on the subject of birds, I was outside this afternoon in my ongoing quest for the perfect hummingbird picture. 
IMG_4537I’m not there yet, but the journey to get there is sure a lot of fun.  :)  I tried to edit out the red feeder perch using Picasa 3, but my oh my what a time I had with that!  I think something was going haywire with my Picasa tonight as it started putting pieces of the perch around in different places in the picture, so I just quit trying. 
IMG_4522 IMG_4529
These two photos aren’t very sharp, but I wanted to show you how territorial and feisty these little hummingbirds can be.  What I wouldn’t give to have these photos in focus!  That’s the challenge with these fast moving aerial acrobats.

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

18 comments:

  1. It is probably better to be known as the bird lady rather than the tax collector. :))

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really don't know how you get the hummingbird pictures that you get. They have been all but buzzing me to get me to look at them, and they turn around so I can see them from all sides, but it's just too dark on my patio to get a decent photo. I love those little birds, though. Your new camera was money well spent.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's quite a fascinating and interesting story, Judy, thanks for sharing it with us. I guess I must have had some kind of premonition last night while leaving that Bird Lady of Blogland comment. I had no idea it was all true!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. great hummingbird shots today!!..bird lady of blogland!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fabulous hummer shots!! They are tricky little ones to capture that's for sure!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm jealous again, if only my hummer would let me have the time to set up a tripod and manually focus I just might be able to get a sharper picture,I won't be greedy just one nice shot, I can freeze a train at 80mph and still see the details, I can't believe one little bird is causing me so much grief. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think that would be quite an honour to have any one of those titles. Bird identification & banding is a rather specialized field. I belonged to Field Naturalist Club one time & we toured a man's bird banding operation. Found it quite fascinating. Great hummer shots. As with a lot of birds, the trick is to pre-focus the camera on a particular spot that birds frequent. Choose the right shutter speed & then patiently wait for the bird to fly into that exact spot before hitting the button.

    ReplyDelete
  8. "Bird Lady of Alcatraz." Cute. I enjoyed reading your stroll down memory lane!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very nice, thanks for sharing. The hummer pictures are great!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You sure have an interesting life. Great Hummer pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a great story of your previous lives. Thanks for sharing. I'll bet it was fun to band those little birds. We went to a bird banding at a state park a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

    I love the photo of the two hummers. You're right, they are so territorial. I often wonder how they reproduce...they never seem to do anything but chase someone off!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think Al has the key to great hummer photos "patience". The only way I have been able to freeze this little speedsters is to stalk them just like I would a bear and make sure that when they step into the frame the camera and the operator are ready. Sometimes it takes all afternoon but I am retired and need something to occupy my time anyway. lol

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great tribute to all your efforts in life. I really enjoyed reading this. Do you see the connection between broken birds and broken kids?

    ReplyDelete
  14. You have the best bird pictures on the web. I always look forward to see what you have shot. Will you tell us when you think you have gotten "THE" hummingbird photo?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow, you were a bird bander too?!
    No wonder you're the "Bird Lady of Blogland"!
    Thanks for sharing your story!
    Super Glue! That's the secret! Put a little dab on the feeder perches!
    JUST KIDDING people!!! I wouldn't hurt one little feather of those little gems!
    But many a time I wish I could get the glue!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I think you have reached your goal with those two pictures of hummers fighting. A great story and great pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You should publish a bird photography book...ask Rick how to get a book started..You have some of the best photos on the web...

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love that you know so much about birds, will sure be a help when we finally get on the road! Maybe I will buy a bird book, know any good ones?

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete