Since moving to Demarest New Jersey, I discovered the joy of having songbirds and white tailed deer roam and fly through our garden. I used my inexpensive Canon camera and started photographing them. The waterfowl pictured here are from a lake in a nearby nature preserve. I have exhibited some photos and sold a few through a gallery.

No pesticides or chemicals are used here. The deer and birds are fed once or twice daily and freshwater is always available. The trees, bushes, and soft grass make the animals, especially the deer, feel very safe and secure.

So far three doe have had given birth to fawns on our property, and we watched the spotted babies grow into doe and bucks. To view a tiny fawn nursing from the doe is an amazing sight. I highly recommend it!

We had a red-bellied woodpecker visit us since we moved to New Jersey. He used to make a drilling noise above our heads on the roof in the wee hours of the morning. Needing sleep and not knowing what to do, I contacted a naturalist. It seems that Woody (my name for the red-bellied male woodpecker) was looking for a mate. That was why he drilled each morning. It took two years, but Woody found a beautiful female red-bellied woodpecker, and they had a family. Woody and his mate eat food in the grass and Woody flies up to his favorite tree to search for insects and other tasty morsels. Life is never dull with Woody around.

Growing up in NYC my idea of wildlife was pigeons pooping on my car and feeding nuts to an occasion squirrel.

It is hard life for wildlife who come to visit. I have seen deer with bites on their sides and and broken antlers. I watched the silver squirrel pictured here show up with one ear bitten and bloody. He is a feisty little guy and completely recovered from his ordeal. Life is hard for birds and deer with hunters, coyotes, and hawks, ready to kill for sport or food. My husband and I are gratified that we can help these beautiful animals and birds to survive.