My pets fly………….

Dogs are by far the best pets, hands down. They truly are man’s best friend and the most reliable being you will ever have the pleasure of having in your life. It can be true in many situations, “the more you know about some people, the more sense a good dog makes.” I used to have a dog a long time ago but I don’t find I have time for one now, so I enjoy time with other friends’ dogs. My current pets, I guess you could call them that to an extent, are a part of nature.

When I was younger I wanted to take a trip to England. I was young, a bit adventurous but I never did it. Now I am older, I have the time to do it but financially I'm not able to. One of the main reasons I haven't done it is because over the years I have developed this "not wanting to fly" frame of mind. I know, I know, thousands of planes take off and land everyday but I just have this feeling I will be on that one that doesn't. I often say “if I was meant to fly they would have given me wings”.

It is funny that I say that because since I have picked up this photography hobby, many of the things I like to take pictures of have wings. I try to capture birds mostly but recently I have been able to shoot different types of dragonflies, bees and other smaller insects with wings. I look mostly for colour and hopefully try to capture them in flight. To see the wings spread out can be an amazing display. I find feathers fascinating by themselves but when they blend into the dress on a bird it is a beautifully tailored masterpiece. My favourite bird is the Cardinal and where I live, they are everywhere.

All these years I never noticed the birds, never stopped to listen to them singing; most of them I had no idea what they were. Now I can identify what they are and I know many of the songs of each bird. I can go out on the deck, listen for a few minutes and tell you which birds are in the neighbourhood.I had a chance to talk to this woman during my trip to Toronto Pride, we talked about birds and we both noticed there are so many around, so many types of birds that you don't normally see. We both kind of agreed it had to be due to the limitations they have on pesticide use in Canada.

I finally put up a bird feeder in the back yard, I can sit out on the deck and try to photograph them as they come to visit and have something to eat. Sometimes though, those damned pesky squirrels find their way up on the feeder and steal all the food. I have had to move the feeder, I tried to put barriers around so they can't get at it but they continued to get up there. Finally I have done the one thing I should have done all along, I bought a feeder that if they climb on it, their weight will cause the feeder to close off all the ports, so they aren't able to feed. Hopefully I have solved the problem. The smaller birds do throw the sunflower seeds to the ground so the squirrels can come and find them and then kindly leave.

So as far as pets go, I guess this is as close as I come to having one. Nature takes care of them most of the time but now I can help with some food if they stop by, and I get to sneak a picture or two, or three........ Now if there were real flying horses!

Here are just a few, ............. enjoy!