Glenda has always enjoyed the outdoor life but it was a Red-winged Blackbird observed in East Texas which inspired her to take up Bird Watching. She had never before seen anything so beautiful as the glow of it’s beautiful red shoulders with the sun shining down on it. The first thing she did on returning home was to purchase a birding guide and that was in 1990.

Glenda and her DH have a busy life with an extended family including her 95 year old mom and 18 year old granddaughter. Out birding is a very precious time for her and DH to enjoy the outdoors and each other’s company and to appreciate all things about nature. She often goes with her grandson to watch birds at Arlington so that he can use his artist’s eye with his new digital camera which he received last Christmas.

Their home is in the suburbs but only a few minutes away from some smaller towns. Even in the city area they have some outstanding bird areas such as the Village Creek Drying Beds where Glenda has captured some very special photographs.

In their garden there are various feeders including suet and thistle and also several nesting boxes which have permanent house sparrow occupants. The recipe section on Feathered Friends has inspired her to start trying some of the home made treats.

Glenda doesn’t have a favourite bird but has very special memories of many different occasions such as the time she and DH were driving very slowly near the beach when a Great Blue Heron flew in just beside the car. They stopped to see what the bird would do and it seemed very interested in them and didn’t fly away. They offered it food but didn’t really have anything to suit the diet of a Heron but it just kept coming closer and closer and then circled the car several times before departing. This occasion left a lasting and pleasurable memory for both of them.

There was a sighting early in her birding life which Glenda describes as her most exciting. This took place in Texas while she was scanning the area surrounding the condo with her binoculars when she accidentally focused on a Painted Bunting which she describes as a circus of colours that she’d never seen before. In her surprise she almost dropped her binoculars.

Another very special and enjoyable time was when she watched a fallout over High Island, Texas. This is a tiny town less than a mile from the coastline which has several wooded areas set aside for birders. It is the spot where the migrating birds from Mexico and South America land after crossing the ocean and they literally fall out of the sky into the trees from exhaustion. There were 50 or so people that day who suffered very bad necks after looking skywards for over 30 minutes, however no-one complained as they saw over 20 different varieties of Warblers.

It didn’t take long after Glenda became interested in birds for her also to expand her interest in photography. She started out with a 300mm Nikon camera and a video camera before going digital. Digiscoping is something she does to get closer shots and this is done by holding her camera against the eyepiece of the scope and I would guess that very steady hands are needed also. For some camera/scopes there are adaptors to hold everything nice and still. With this setup she can increase the image size by more than 40 times and get a wonderful closeup without disturbing the birds. In some circumstances where there is particularly interesting habitat which she likes to include in the photo the camera is used alone.

Glenda is a member of the local Audubon Society and attends birding workshops, field trips and festivals. Taking photos of birds is definitely her main passion but she also enjoys photographing all types of nature. She has albums of butterflies, animals, wildflowers and of course, people.

Sighting an Elegant Trogan was number one on her wish list for quite a long time until she finally fulfilled that dream on a trip to Arizona. Now the two she wishes to see most are the Black-billed Magpie and the Red-faced Warbler.

Some magnificent photos have been posted by Glenda over a period of time and I asked her if she has had any of her work published. She said “no, I am still learning.” I will finish this story with one last paragraph in her own words as I think it sums up our Buddy and her hobby very well - “I have birded with my birding buddies or my husband in Arizona, Florida and Mexico but the majority of my birding trips are into areas in Texas, especially the coastal areas. No matter where we go, I cannot remember a bad day birding. When I think of birds, I think of learning and laughter, peaceful walks and pleasant landscapes and appreciating in awe that unbelievable variety of nature we have as a gift from God.”

Thank you Glenda, it’s been a wonderful journey.