Calendars on sale Nov 11-12
My calendars are on sale this weekend, there are three designs available, and they come in different formats.
All of these can be found in my shop. There is also a link to the shop on the landing page here at ostdrossel.com. Have a lovely Friday, everybody!
Happy Halloween!
We had the first frost last night, and my garden is now finally done after an amazing season. The trees are losing their leafs and make it look like it’s raining gold. Bird activity is still not really high but Juncos are here and I hope everybody else will soon rediscover feeders and baths here. I am still having some issues with some of my livecams but the solution is out of my hands, so I have to wait until things are back working, which is hopefully soon. In the meantime, I have been bad at advertising the calendars, so here is a little promo I made. I will soon start introducing the birds from the calendar with the different species, too. Stay warm and have fun today if you celebrate!
Calendars are available now!
I finally managed to go through all my photos from the last year and selected those that I found worked well for the calendar. As announced before, there is more than one calendar this year. I have two Grackle-themed ones available because I wanted to get all my Grackle love out there - there is one with Grackles through the seasons and one with very judgy Grackles. Both come in different formats to choose from.
And then I also made a “regular birds” calendar like I always do. All of these can be found in my shop, and I have a promo running right now as well. There is also a link to the shop on the landing page here at ostdrossel.com. Have a lovely Friday, everybody!
Happy 4th advent, Hanukkah, holidays and Sunday!
A good day to conclude the introduction of the calendar birds. For December, I initially chose a female Bluebird because I just loved her grumpy expression. However, this year’s December bird is also a female BB. I try to avoid repetition and also had another fabulous photo that would work - the Queen of all Mourning Doves. If you squint, she looks a bit like a Christmas tree too 😆
My calendar promo sale ends tonight, they are available here.
November is an odd month in Michigan
because sometimes it can feel like summer still but it can also quickly turn to winter. This year, the trees took their good time to turn, and the backyard looked lovely, all dipped in reds, orange, gold and green. For the calendar, I first looked at the small birds, so the two Chickadees and the Goldfinch were potential choices. But then my eyes fell on the Redbellied Woodpecker lady, and I thought her size, the colors and detail would work a lot better. So that is why she is Miss November. My calendars are on sale this week, you can get yours here. Come good into the weekend!
Teen birds can be
very confusing, especially when you are just starting with birdwatching. They have the coolest patterns and colorations going on, and I have to say they are one of my favorites to see. It is fantastic that it is possible to see them even into fall. The calendar birds for August, September and October are teens. There’s a Rubythroated Hummingbird with just the first parts of the gorget appearing, a juvenile Cowbird morphing into adult plumage, and a teen Cardinal, still with lots of baby feathers and the characteristic brown beak.
Spring and summer
are my favorite seasons because it always feels like something new happens or visits every day. July is a major baby bird month, and just like in previous years, we had loads and loads of Blue Jays. I love baby Blue Jays because they are wonderfully adorable in looks as well as behavior. For the calendar, I started thinking about July with the beautiful sunny photo of the adult, lured by the vibrancy and detail. But then I looked at photos of the youngsters. All three are cute and quite typical but I found the “mohawk” one the most interesting to look at, so that was the choice for July. The calendars are on sale starting today (once approved by the website) and continue until Sunday. Get yours here.
Happy Sunday!
I am continuing with the introduction of the calendar birds. The choice for June was a tough one. I knew I wanted an Oriole, and since this season there was an abundance of them, I also had an abundance of photos. The wet Baltimore Oriole was my first pick because it is just such an unusual look and I loved the background and lighting. However, the bird is not entirely identifiable, so eventually, it was out. The “Tequila Sunrise” one is another favorite for the beautiful colors but somehow it lacked something. The final choice was an Orchard Oriole, and I chose it because I loved the gentle pose and felt like this beautiful bird deserves some attention.
You can get my calendars here.
The process
of choosing photos for my calendars is always a bit of a thing I love and hate. On the one hand, it is fun to revisit the year but on the other hand it is very hard to narrow a selection down. Usually what I do is go through older posts of the year and copy the ones I may consider into a special subfolder and then wittle things down.
Of these four, the immature male Rosebreasted Grosbeak and the Bluebird made the cut - they are April and May. The Grackle is an alternative I considered for March. I love Grackles in the rain but somehow I landed on the RWBB instead. The second Grosbeak I loved because of the slightly different coloring. It appears to be a female but I also see a tiny red dot on the fold in the belly and the vibrant yellow is a bit unusual. The photo is from May (the Serviceberry is blooming), and since I wanted the Bluebird for May (my birthday month), the Grosbeak was out.
You can find my calendars here.
Calendar birds - February and March
The birds for February and March in my calendar are an adorable House Finch on a frosty morning and a Redwinged Blackbird against a dramatic sky. I loved the light in both of these photos, it created a cool mood and made the birds stick out nicely. My calendars are available in four different formats with customizable spines in my shop here: https://tinyurl.com/wa8jmt44
Bird activity is a little slow
due to the mild weather, so I am not getting many good photos. Things will pick up again in time but this is just as good of an opportunity to introduce the birds in my calendar for 2023. You can get the calendar here: tinyurl.com/5xd4tmzw. The year begins with a Dark-eyed Junco. Many call them snowbird around here because they appear in fall and leave in spring, being something like a sign that winter is truly coming. They are entertaining little birds that I learned to appreciate even more with video footage because it enabled me to hear them up close too. For the calendar, I went with a photo that shows one in the sun because I loved the pose, the light and the clarity. The alternative was a snow storm photo. I loved that too but it felt better to start the year on a positive note. Have a great Sunday!
Happy Thanksgiving!
This year, I am thankful for health, nice weather, my loved ones (including kitty), all of you wonderful people, and the fact that I get to enjoy Grackles a lot longer than usual but not in the overwhelming numbers from summer. I see one at least every day, but upon closer inspection, it appears that there are several individuals. I wonder if they will now actually spend the winter here, that would be a first. I hope you are surrounded by good people and have a good meal today. If you are shopping for Christmas presents, consider my calendar, it is still on sale until tonight. Happy Thanksgiving!
Birds are still migrating,
bringing occasional fun visitors, like Grackles and Redwinged Blackbirds. The House Finch almost got me with his head marks, I thought it might be a Purple. But the stripes on the belly are a true sign for House.
Speaking of Redwinged Blackbirds - today, the promo sale for the calendar ends. There will be another one or two farther down the road but I haven’t made my mind up when.
Video: They are back!
Two days ago, fall really started, with leaves changing colors and temperatures dropping. I closed the pond for the season and have set up three heated baths this year, one on the ground at the pond spot, one on a pedestal, and then this one, which is mounted above ground. It is smaller than the others, and it took the birds a bit to find it but now it is in good use. There was a group of Robins passing through that took to it, the woodpeckers seem to like it because it allowes them easy access, and the smaller birds enjoy it as well. Like the Juncos that have just started to return too. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday. Check out the calendar shop as well - from today until the 14th, calendars are 10 % off.
I am happy to announce
that the 2023 calendars are ready and available. It always takes me a while to go through the photos and decide what to use, and this time around I was actually a bit nervouse because it felt like it was not really a great year, but in the end, I think I really like this calendar. The page that I am selling them through handles everything for me, from printing to payments to shipping, so if things go wrong, you will have to get in touch with them. They are made to order. There will be promo sales too, so it is good to check back there every now and then. I made five sizes in three formats. 12 x 12, three rectangle formats in different sizes (8.5 x 11, 11 x 14, 12 x 16), and a desk calendar. You can choose sizes and binder to your desires. I will talk about the birds and photos in the calendar as the weeks go on. I am so happy it is done, it is a bit of a reason to look forward to 2023. You can find the main shop page here: https://www.createphotocalendars.com/Shop/ostdrossel
Kentucky Flood donation effort
We all have seen the images of the recent flood in Kentucky, and I feel like this would be a good time to get some donations going again. The statebird of Kentucky is the Northern Cardinal, so the King of the Yard will be the symbol for this one. I created some more Cardi designs in my shop, you can find them here: https://tinyurl.com/mjz3s4km All other proceeds will be donated as well. I hope you have a pleasant evening.
Thank you, beautiful people!
I was able to make another donation to World Central Kitchen #WCK, helping their #Ukraine efforts because you bought stickers! You are beautiful and I cherish each and every one of you. Thank you. The fundraiser continues - all profits from my Redbubble shop will be donated to Ukraine relief efforts. You can find my shop at ostdrossel.redbubble.com. Be sound. <3
THANK YOU!
Because of you, I was able to make a 400 Dollar donation towards the relief efforts of World Central Kitchen (wck.org) this morning. The are on the ground and help people by providing nutritious food. I decided to go with them because I am a food lover, I know how important a full belly is and also because I admire the work that WCK does. I will continue the fundraiser, you can find my shop here: ostdrossel.redbubble.com. Have a wonderful day!
It is very hard
to maintain focus right now. The Bluebirds are helping to lift my thoughts out of the dark terrain they tend to gravitate towards these days. There seem to be several couples, and they have started incredible air fights, trying to figure out who has dominance over the yard, feeder and nestbox. It is a lot like the world right now, but actually delightful to watch and listen to. Here is one of the females. Please be safe out there and hug your loved ones during these dark times. Also, if you want to help - get a sticker from my shop. We are going to make a donation to a cause that benefits the people in Ukraine.
Donation effort for Ukraine
I do feel helpless watching what is going on in Ukraine, so I have decided to try and help with what is in my powers. I created a Ukraine donation sticker, and all proceeds from the sales of that sticker I will donate to the Red Cross efforts to help Ukraine. There are two stickers available, one is just my logo, the other one is in the Ukraine flag colors. You can find my shop on Redbubble here: ostdrossel.redbubble.com, I made the stickers the featured collection. Please note, Redbubble pays by month and only if you have reached a certain threshold. For more info about how they work, check out my PSA about Redbubble in my FAQ. You can also donate directly, of course: redcross.org
I have two more Ukrainian-based organizations to possibly donate to on my radar but it is unclear if they will actually receive the money and use it because of the war, so the Red Cross it is for the time being.
