I have always been a nature lover.  There is one way to get my head right sometimes, and that's to get out into nature.  Since I found photography, it's been even more therapeutic.

I have recently become obsessed with birds - all birds, but Raptors in particular! It all started one day last February when my friend Bonnie and I went for a bike ride and saw a juvenile bald eagle flying over our heads. Then we saw a tree full of robins and a bunch of great blue herons and then the young bald eagle sitting in a tree with the adult!

It seemed like all of a sudden they were everywhere I looked.  I started to "hunt" them with my camera.

Since then we have had many such adventures, here are a couple of photos...


This is a Great Blue Heron. I would not even try to guess how many hours I've spent trying to get a good shot of one of these! They are very shy birds and, in my experience, as soon as you stop and try to get a look, they fly away. I got this picture on a very hot and muggy day. I went for a bike ride to Springbank Park here in London, and happened to see this guy across the river from me. I locked up my bike and climbed down the river bank, expecting him to take off with every step I took. But he didn't - too darned hot!

Another bike ride - this one was before a road trip that we were going to take that afternoon. All of a sudden as we were riding out of one of London's beautiful parks I saw this guy fly across the road and land in a tree.

He wasn't nearly as shy as the heron!

The again, on another bike ride I hear a call and look up

Then flying up from the side of the road!

This guy sat there eating his lunch and didn't seem concerned by me in the least.

And the vultures on the beach - hey, they're raptors too, and although their faces may be ugly, they are huge and beautiful as well!

I just know this is going to be an amazing adventure!

My Inspiration

Wow!

I was extremely fortunate to have been raised in Canada's arctic - you can see more about that in my about me page, and I feel like everything I learned being immersed in aboriginal cultures as a child has now begun to come back to me as an adult.

Eagles hold such a special place in my heart, and have really been a catalyst in my renewed interest in nature.

When I was born, Eagles did not exist here in Southern Ontario anymore.  They had all been killed off by a variety of means including habitat loss and the big one  - DDT's. There is a great article from National Geographic here.

When I saw my first eagle riding my bicycle along the Thames river here in London, I was astonished and it set me on this path that I now find myself on.

The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn.

Eagles have made such a comeback and have changed my life.

We CAN change things, maybe we do have a chance at making things right and honouring this beautiful planet that we all call home.

Can we also maybe, perhaps, rid ourselves of the imaginary things that divide us?

After all, we all have this planet in common and the Eagles are proof to me that people DO care and than we can affect change in our environment if we work together.


We'd heard a rumour that there was and eagle nest somewhere on Fanshawe Lake so off we went.

We rounded a corner and there, sitting on a tree was this eagle.

If I wasn't passionate about this earth before, this picture cemented it for me!