About

Judy’s Mostly Alaskan Bird Blog

by Judy Jessee

I became fascinated by birds about 15 years ago and it really served to dilate my love of nature because taking a hike is a little different than birding.  You’re actually doing very similar things, walking in nature, but if you’re birding there’s a more specific goal.  Birding channels my energies and if it results in a bit of an addiction, well what can I say, it’s a healthy one.

My passion now is photographing birds.  While some people take their field guides out with them while birding, I don’t want to carry a book or waste even a second looking down during those few fleeting seconds when there’s a bird around.

That being said, sometimes obsessively clicking away with a camera takes you out of the moment as well.  And the thrill of the chase can’t really be a chase, because birds deserve their space too.

But to me, the challenge of getting a good shot of a bird, many of which won’t stay put for even a second, is something that makes life thrilling.  And then during those dark cold winter months in Alaska my bird photos provide me umpteen hours of vicarious traveling, paging though my bird books, finding out all the firsts and marking them in my journal, dreaming of camping, traveling, and getting back outside…

My husband, Jack, and I in Joshua Tree National Park.