75% off Cards

Zazzle is one of the print on demand companies I use, where you can order my photographs (or the work of many amazing artists) on a huge assortment of products like canvas prints, cards, t-shirts, mugs, phone cases, postage...well, the list goes on and on! I thought I'd let you know about their 75% off on cards sale, which is their best deal yet. The sale is only for two days, so act fast! Just use the code 75OFFCARDS13 at checkout to get your discount. I believe the sale is only on the American Zazzle site but it's still a great deal even if you have to factor in the shipping costs. I have a very large Christmas section in my Zazzle shop, but here are a few of my more popular Christmas cards...

 

Santa Squirrels Celebrating

 

Christmas Squirrel and Candy Cane

Just in case you aren't into squirrels (what?!), here are the Christmas cards my parents ordered from my shop the last two years. We don't get snow in the winters here on the west coast all that often but when we do, I make sure to take advantage of it and try to photograph some animals.

 

Chickadee and Red Berries in Falling Snow

Deer Buck in Snow

I've ordered Zazzle's cards in the past and I was very impressed by their high quality. And you know photographers, they can be very picky!

Time for Texture!

I've always been a fan of using textures to create a mood or add a more painterly appeal to a photograph. Maybe it's because I come from a family of painters (grandmother, father, sister and brother), but I like to blur the lines between photography and painting.

Baby Hummingbird on Nest

I've added textures various ways. Sometimes I add an actual painting I've done; sometimes I paint a texture digitally (in Photoshop); sometimes I photograph a texture (like bark, for instance), and add it to the photograph; and sometimes I buy textures.

Baby Duck in Tall Grass 

Recently I decided to do a series of bird images using textures. I often add many textures to a photograph and play around with the blending modes in Photoshop.

Finch Singing in an Apple Tree

Great Blue Herons Fight

Chickadee in Winter

I like to add inspirational sayings to my photographs occasionally. For the robin photograph I also added a diamond pattern, and I was going for a vintage look.

 Robin on a Cookie Jar

Small Tropical Bird on a Palm Tree

So that's a look at some of my latest images using textures. I encourage you to give it a whirl yourself!

textured birds art

Mother and Baby Chickadees

Last fall my mom turned 80 and I went back east to help her celebrate at a family get-together. Last month I turned 57 and found that I could hardly believe it. Fifty-seven...me??? How did that happen? In my mind I'm still in my 30's. Anyway, my mom and I have been discussing this age thing lately and we both agree that it kinda sucks. But what's the alternative? So I'm working on aging gracefully. We'll see how that goes.

With Mother's Day coming up in less than two weeks, I've been thinking about the role of mothers a lot lately too. I never had kids myself but I really marvel at the energy it takes to parent. I've been remembering last year's chestnut-backed chickadee family that visited my feeders. The mother chickadee was one of many who would take a peanut from my hand. I could tell this particular chickadee from the others because she had a bad leg with a foot that was slightly shrivelled.

Let me tell you, that mother chickadee worked her tail feathers off supplying her babies with food. She was constantly on the job feeding them and they seemed to be hungry every minute of the day. Once in awhile she'd grab a peanut from me and I could almost feel her exasperation as she flew to a nearby branch to be alone for a quick moment while she hurriedly enjoyed her treat. I felt really sorry for her. The demands of motherhood seemed especially tough for her. O.K., I know I'm given to anthropomorphizing but really...she looked plumb worn-out after a couple of weeks of raising her babies with their always-open mouths demanding to be fed.

Mother and Baby Chickadees

Mother Chestnut-Backed Chickadee Feeding Baby

All of mom's time was taken up with her offspring for three or four weeks. The little ones ran her ragged and seemed ungrateful at best. And then it was over. Once the baby chickadees were raised, the mother chickadee disappeared, never to be seen again.

I couldn't help but wonder...did her babies do her in? Was the experience of motherhood so difficult that she didn't survive it? I don't know if it's possible but I think maybe it is. She'd been a constant visitor beforehand and now she was gone.

My experience with the mother chickadee was repeated shortly afterwards with a red-breasted nuthatch. Nuthatches aren't normally as brave as chickadees, but this one would take peanuts from my hand. But then she had a family and she also disappeared. Hmmm...


I still miss both of my feathered friends very much and remember them often. I wonder if the babies that were born from either of these broods will be raising their own young ones around our place this spring.

Anyway, the moral of the story is, of course, appreciate your mother while you still have time! The years go by so quickly...
chickadees art

Birds in Winter

Every year when we have snow I make a point of getting outside to take some photos of the birds. I have a gang of chickadees that follows me around when I'm outdoors now because they know I keep peanuts in my jacket pocket. As a matter of fact, at least one chickadee has wised up to the fact that I keep the peanuts in my left pocket...during this last session of feeding them from my hand, some impatient little birds actually started digging in my pocket for peanuts!

I usually have so many of these chestnut-backed chickadees following me around that I can run out of peanuts pretty quickly so now I bring a mug full with me. I keep peanuts in a tin mug that I bought in Costa Rica. The chickadees jump in and grab peanuts for themselves whenever I put the mug down.

Chickadee in Snow

Chickadee in Winter

I love to walk around our place with the flock of chickadees happily chirping and zooming all around me. I suspect some of them of stashing their peanuts instead of eating them because there are so many birds, I figure I must be feeding some of them  twice in a row. Here's a shot of one of them waiting in a nearby cedar tree...

Chickadee in Snow on Cedar Tree

The Steller's Jays almost always break up the party by flying in and intimidating the chickadees. I usually feed the jays a little too just as I'm about to wrap things up. If I feed them any earlier, you can guarantee there'll be a gang of them disrupting everything pretty quickly. O.K., I admit it, I'm biased...chickadees are my favorites. But the jays are quite beautiful too...

Steller's Jay in Winter

Happy holidays to you all, and may the new year bring you many delightful surprises. I'll leave you with a Christmas message from me and the chickadees.

Santa Chickadee

winter birds art

Birds in Snow in My Backyard

We don't usually get too much snow here on the west coast of British Columbia...mostly we get rain, rain, and more rain. But every once in awhile we get a few centimeters (or a few inches, for those of you who aren't on the metric system). I miss the snow from where I grew up back east so it's always a welcome treat when it happens.

When the snow falls I make sure that my backyard birds get extra food. We already have a bird seed feeder and two suet cages; one cage is squirrel-proof and jay-proof or there'd never be any suet at all. But when the weather turns nasty I also spread extra bird seed along the wooden railing of our back deck. Then the varied thrushes come a-calling.

Thrushes are about the same size as American robins (which are from the thrush family) and their chirp is very similar. Just like robins, they usually eat from the ground or in trees and not from hanging feeders. The thrushes hang out in the surrounding trees (mostly evergreens) and seem to be waiting every morning for me to put out the seed. Then they descend and I can hear them singing happily as they peck away. They have a beautifully melodic song that never fails to make me smile. They're a fairly shy bird so can be hard to get pictures of but when it snows they get a little more bold.

Varied Thrush

The other ground-feeding bird that enjoys having extra seeds spread out on my deck is the Spotted Towhee. They can be found in our backyard year-round, often half-hidden in the surrounding oceanspray bushes.

Spotted Towhee in Snowy Oceanspray Bush

Spotted Towhee

I have quite a number of chestnut-backed chickadees that have enjoyed feasting at our place this year. This winter I started feeding them peanuts from my hand. Now I just have to step out onto the back deck, or anywhere in the yard for that matter, and the chickadees materialize. I've had a chickadee in my hand, one on my arm, and one on my head all at the same time. They're also very fond of landing on the end of my telephoto lens. They get a little crazy when it's peanut time. They're one of my favorite birds to photograph and if I ever need something to cheer me up, feeding chickadees by hand always does the trick.

I got a lot of chickadee pictures during our recent snowfall...

Chestnut-backed Chickadee with Snow Falling

Chickadee on Snowy Pine Tree Branch

Chickadee in the Snow

Chickadee on Oceanspray in Winter

I pour hot water over the birds' frozen-over water dish every morning but I still often see them eating snow.

Chickadee with Snow on Beak

Besides the chickadees, I also have one red-breasted nuthatch that will eat peanuts out of my hand. I usually hear him calling before I see him so I know he's closeby, ready for his peanut. He's unafraid of the chickadees but very cautious if there are steller's jays around. After he's grabbed a peanut he usually calls to me as he flies off with his prize. He's a little more challenging to get pictures of than chickadees, but I managed a couple of shots the other day. He follows me around the yard now too.

Nuthatch on Snowy Pine Tree Branch

Red-Breasted Nuthatch in the Snow

The steller's jays get a little crazed when I'm feeding peanuts to the chickadees and the nuthatch. They follow us around hopefully if I'm in the yard, waiting for a dropped nut here and there. I try to feed them separately so that they don't scare the smaller birds. They're always quite comical to watch but can they ever be greedy!

Steller's Jay in Snowfall

Steller's Jay Closeup

I hope you enjoyed my pictorial about birds in snow. I'm hoping for another snowfall soon, or at least at end to the constant rain!



Feeding the Chickadees

Wow, has it really been since July that I posted anything to my blog? I don't know where the time went but I promise to do better!

I've been having a blast lately feeding the Chestnut-Backed Chickadees that visit my feeders. Could anything be more perfect that a chickadee?

Chickadee and Red Berries in Winter

One thing that's always sure to lighten my mood is to feed the chickadees peanuts by hand. I've got quite the crew this year and they land one after the other, often taking their time choosing the perfect peanut. Sometimes they toss nuts onto the ground because they're not quite right in their eyes. Sometimes they even have the nerve to peck my hand. And yes, the final indignity happened just the other day...one of them left me a tiny Christmas gift. But I'd forgive a chickadee anything...I mean, look at them!

Chickadee in Winter

Well, I just wanted to drop in and wish you Happy Holidays this Christmas season and all the very best in 2012. I hope that the coming year is as magical as feeding chickadees peanuts from your hands!

Christmas Chickadee