I’m often asked, how do you see so many different animals and birds? I live in Caledon, and we are so fortunate to have a large variety of wonderful habitats here and in the surrounding areas. If you take the time to look, it is amazing what you can find.

I am often found biking or walking on the Caledon Trailway or hiking on the Bruce Trail nearby. I have a backyard that backs onto a creek, and I have gardens and trees to encourage critters to visit. During the winter I have feeders for the birds. In the summer, bird baths and hummingbird feeders are prominent features.

I started taking pictures of my findings a few years ago. I upgraded my camera to a Nikon Coolpix P1000 which has an excellent zoom.  It’s a camera that is very portable and easily taken along with me.

I began posting my images on Facebook and Instagram and soon people noticed. Many people have shared with me the joy that seeing the pictures brings to them. They have also learned about birds that they didn’t know existed.

I work in a Peel School as an Educational Assistant (EA) with exceptional students. During the last few years with online learning, I connected with many students in my school with Google slide presentations of my images and I ran a bird watching club during nutrition breaks. It has become a fun and educational hobby. For me the greatest reward is hearing from people that my pictures make their day, and that they look forward to seeing new birds and seeing the diversity we have here in Peel.

I look forward to sharing a few of those images here with you.