Hello, Tweeters,

First, I'm a novice (regarding birds), so please bear with me. Second, I'm
not into birding, but I do love to watch the great variety of birds that
visit our sundeck. We overlook a valley of trees and our 8 acres are a haven
for many birds and other wildlife.

Until two weeks ago, I had no idea there were so many "birders" out there. I
didn't even know the term "birding." It was only after witnessing a
mesmerizing event (to me, at least) that I decided to try and find an avid
bird photographer on the Net. And that's how I found this group.

The event I witnessed on 8/11 was a mother TOWHEE patiently - and calmly -
feeding her adolescent on the railing of our sundeck. Now maybe that's a
common occurrence to all of you, but it's the first time in 5 years (since
we've lived here) that I've witnessed such an event ... and I look out our
kitchen window a *lot* to watch the birds feeding. What seemed extraordinary
to me was that Mama would diligently shell each seed while Baby sat there,
shaking like a leaf while waiting, and at the appropriate moment, Baby would
open its mouth while Mama carefully placed the seed in Baby's mouth. Never
in my life have I witnessed such an event! My immediate thought was, "That
picture is worth a MILLION words ... not just a mere thousand!"

About an hour later, the same thing occurred. Whether or not it was the same
Mama & Baby, or a different pair, I have no idea. My camera (of course!) was
broken (I'd meant to get a new one) and I had no idea where our video camera
was, so the scene will be forever captured solely in my mind.

Later that evening, I thought, "If it happened once, it will happen again ...
if not this year, then next. And wouldn't it be wonderful if a
"professional" photographer (I use that word loosely) could capture that
picture and have it printed on a greeting card?!"

I searched the Net and found numerous photos of birds, but *none* like the
picture I saw on 8/11.

So I'm wondering ... does anyone know of an avid bird photographer who would
like to occasionally visit and take photos? I would LOVE to see a scene like
the one I witnessed shared w/ the rest of the "birding" world.

The other thought I had was, if any of you would like to visit and do your
"birding" on our property, feel free to write to me and I'll be happy to
discuss it w/ you. We live in deer & elk country, one mile up from beautiful
Hagg Lake.

Love to you all,

Julie Pruitt
Gaston, OR
mailto: jooliep at aol.com