As winter comes to a close, so does my Winter Bird Portrait Project. The idea for this project came to me when I had a chance siting of an Eastern Bluebird that came and sat on the ledge of our back porch. This porch is situated right next to our kitchen and I had a great view of this little bird from the window. I ran to go get my camera but when I returned the Bluebird was gone!  My next thought of course was how do I get this little bird to return. So I started putting out seed and suet. Sure enough the birds came. In fact multiple Bluebirds and other varieties started visiting everyday. A friend suggested I make a calendar with my bird photos, so my goal became to photograph 12 different types of birds, one for each month of the year. What a fun challenge this turned out to be! I tend to feel a bit down and uninspired in the Winter and this seemed to take those winter blues away. Mornings became an exciting time of little visiting bird friends and some awesome bird photos! I'm still going through the hundreds of pictures I took over the winter and deciding which ones will will be included in my 2022 calendar. Some of my bird photography has already been incorporated into some earring designs ( more to come!). I'm also planning to make some print sets. My take away from this project is: more projects and creative challenges for myself! This became an unexpected mood lifter and led to other creative ideas. I'm also now a true bird nerd.