Enjoying nature watching birds

Perhaps due to the pandemic or early retirement or a third and inexplicable reason 🙂 we began to be interested in birds.

At first timidly putting some feeders on our deck and learning that different types of seeds attract different birds. The challenge remains to recognize who our guests are for breakfast and lunch 🙂

One of the benefits of living in the PNW (Pacific Northwest) is the amount of wildlife around. Who would have imagined (starting with me) that I was going to enjoy nature so much . I used to be tremendously urban, a city bug … or at least I was until 5 years ago when I moved to this part of the planet.

As we felt that it was not enough to see the birds that visit us daily in our feeders, we began to visit bird refuges that are a very short distance from our house. It is a fantastic activity in winter when the sun rises after days of constant rain 🙂 and also, if you are curious, a great source of learning.

This is my basic equipment for a good observation: backpack, camera with good lenses and binoculars;)

Taking good photos of birds is a challenge, it requires a lot of patience and taking the shot at the exact moment of the flight so that the photo is not blurred and the objective is clearly seen. This whole introduction is to tell you that you will not see too many photos of birds but of the places where some live and others spend some seasons 🙂

These two pictures of the bald eagle were taken by Barnaby in the shelter we have close to home in Washougal …. Impressive, don´t you think? Clearly he made a better job than me 🙂

And if you are not a fan of birds, I know that many people are apprehensive of them, walking these spaces to just take a walk is also a good idea.

This is the rear of the Steigerwald Lake Wildlife Refuge in Washington that is currently closed for modifications in favor of Columbia River birds and fish. We have this wonderful space 10 minutes by car from our house 🙂