Did you know that animals are outside and you can look at them? Sometimes I take pictures of them! An animal is living in my house and I take pictures of her too! In this section, you can find the photos I’ve taken of wild animals from the outside world. You can also view photos of my dog, Nora, who is supposed to be a vicious, baby-eating monster, but is actually a baby.

In 2019, I took an introductory photography class. I often focused on birds as my subject. I would spread out seed on my patio, sit on the floor in front of the kitchen window, and wait for the birds to show up. I used a Canon Rebel with a zoom lens to capture these. I would like to get back into nature photography someday. I will add more to this page if I do!

A Snack and a Drink

Juvenile Common Grackle about to dunk a peanut in some water.

Dunks

The same juvenile Common Grackle dunking its head in water.

Pool Party for One

The same young grackle decides to play in the water.

Red Winged Blackbird

A black bird with red wings is outside.

Sneaky Snack

A female red winged blackbird holds a peanut sneakily.

Peeky Snack

The same female red winged blackbird stands up straight.

Clumsy Munch

A male American Goldfinch picks at a sunflower seed head.

Whoops!

The goldfinch hopes you didn't see him slip.

Decisions

A female and male house finch. "Wanna go to the restaurant, honey?"

On the House

A male house finch eats a seed.

Female Red Winged Blackbird

A female blackbird.

Mourning Dove

Contemplates its next "coo-OO-hoo…hoo..hoo".

Mourning Dove preening

Preens its fat self on a fence.

Mourning Dove

Continues to be extremely fat.

House Sparrow

Cheeps in a lonely manner.

Mourning Dove

Cocks its head dubiously on a fence.

Mourning Dove preening

It's rude to stare.

Male House Sparrow

A house sparrow looking dignified for once.

Feed the Child

A male House Sparrow feeds his fledgling.

Sparrow Photobomb

Devastating.

Camouflage

He was literally right there.

Male House Sparrow

Getting blasted by a warm breeze.

Date Night

Is it gay to share a bird feeder?

Female House Sparrow

Getting blasted by a warm breeze.

Juvenile House Sparrows

Viet Cong troops 1969 colorized.

House Sparrow about to feed (?)

Birds love fatty ass food, especially suet.

Dark-eyed Junco

Lightly sugardusted.

House Sparrow pair

Tiny brains react to snow in real time.

Female Cardinal

Doing her best pencil impression.

The Goodest Girl

Nora / born October 1, 2014 / Adopted April 28, 2020

Nora is my dog. She's a pitbull and also a spoiled brat. She has epilepsy that's being successfully controlled with medication. She was rescued from severe neglect and had two different owners before we adopted her, but knows nothing but love now.

Nora's favorite thing in the world is bread. She has been known to steal sandwich loaves from the counter when you're not looking and eat them in less than a minute. She loves to sit in people's laps and will sleep on your head if you don't stop her. She's smart, but stubborn as an ox; she will deliberately wait for you to go to the bathroom so she can steal your chair.

I put little shirts on her because it's both cute and protects her from the cold. She loses body heat easily because she has thin fur and is obsessed with being warm. People tend to be less afraid of pitbulls when they're wearing clothes!

In April 2020, my husband and I decided that we wanted to get a dog. We’d been thinking about it for years, but we felt ready for the responsibility. Since I’d be home most days because of the pandemic, I’d have time to acclimate a pet to their new environment, establish trust, and train them to behave properly. One afternoon in April, we went to the pound to look at the animals and see if we wanted to adopt one. Most of the dogs had a long waiting list of potential adopters except one: a pit bull named Nora. No one had shown interest in her at all in the few weeks she’d been there. We didn’t understand why no one had given this particular dog a chance, so we went into the kennel to meet her. We caught a glimpse of her as a shelter employee was bringing her back from a walk. We watched as Nora sat for a treat and gently took it. As the person closed the kennel gate and walked away, Nora stared at her with big, wet eyes and squeaked out one little whine. We knew we had to meet her up close. The employees informed us that she was skittish around people, but was incredibly cuddly with people who gained her trust. The main stipulation was that she had to go to a home where she was the only dog because she didn’t like other animals, which was fine with us. She bristled at other dogs and barked or yelped, but didn’t show teeth. Allegedly she was bad about resource guarding and didn’t let anyone near her food.

They took us to a small room and brought Nora in to see us. She walked in with her head low to the ground, occasionally looking up at us but mostly staring at the door. When we saw her, we understood why people were hesitant to adopt her. She was underweight to the point her spine and ribs stuck out. The tip of her tail was scabbed and bloody, missing its skin. Something terrible had happened to Nora, the details of which we never learned and don’t want to know. We only knew that she’d come from an animal hoarders with several dogs that bullied her, and she was kept in a cage because she couldn’t get along with them. We wanted to show her that she didn’t need to be afraid of us, so we spent half an hour getting her acclimated to our presence. We didn’t force affection or demand her attention. We held out our hands and let her come over to sniff them. Eventually she felt comfortable enough to sit on our laps. They let us take her on a short walk, where we learned that she wasn’t leash trained very well. Her paw pads were soft and pink like a puppy’s, even though she was 5 years old. We both wanted to give her a better life full of adventures and decided to adopt her. I was willing to work with any behavioral issues she may have had.

We returned to the shelter the next day to take her home. While we were at the front desk filling out some paperwork, we saw Nora being brought in to an office for a final checkup. She noticed us, hanging back for a brief moment to stare at us before being ushered through the door by a vet tech. I’ll never forget the look she gave us with her big, dewy eyes. It’s like she was saying “you came back!” As we walked out to the car, she was so excited that she leaped up to catch a little yellow butterfly and missed.

When we brought her home, she explored every room of the house. She completely opened up to us and showed no fear at all. Interacting with her was natural, as if we’d always been familiar with her. I brought home Culver’s for dinner. In true Nora fashion, she climbed across my husband’s lap to attempt to steal his ice cream. The next morning I found her asleep on the couch with her head on a pillow. We knew we’d made the right decision. The vet prescribed us an antibacterial cream to put on her tail and we watched in delight as the fur grew back in over the course of a few months. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that she had a white tail tip! Save for a small scar, you can’t tell that anything happened to it.

One day I accidentally left a bag of bread on the floor while bringing in groceries. In the 30 seconds I spent digging something out of my car, Nora had eaten the entire thing. I made the exact same mistake a few months later with identical results: once again, she ate a loaf of bread in a few bites. She didn’t suffer any ill effects aside from pooping too much the day after. Ever since then, she’s been known as the bread demon because it’s one of her favorite snacks. We don’t let her eat it very often, but it doesn’t stop her from staring at us when we eat it.

Another time I left a tray of broccoli and carrots on the counter to put on the grill. I was outside checking the coals, my husband was sitting on the patio, and Nora was inside by herself. I went in to get the vegetables, but found the empty tray on the floor. It had been licked clean. Nora was sitting on the floor, hanging her head and staring at the rug. I couldn’t even be mad at her because it was the most cartoonish expression of guilt I’d ever seen in my life. The broccoli made her produce mustard gas fart clouds, which was enough to get me to stop leaving uncovered food on the counter.

I often forget Nora came from a difficult background. She never showed any sign of resource guarding once we adopted her, but of course she was defensive about food in her old house; she couldn’t get enough food and was built like five French fries duct taped to a spork by the time we got to her. She is so used to being around people now that she will run up to random strangers to say hi if I don’t stop her. She has been to the woods and the big city alike, and goes on walks every day. She likes to sit in laps and wedge herself next to people by leaning her entire body weight on them. Sometimes she’ll give you a little drive-by lick as she’s walking to a different part of the room. She likes to dismount the couch by putting her front feet on the floor and dragging her back legs off the cushion. Sometimes she sits like a person and sticks her hind feet straight out in front of her. She enjoys looking out windows that are at eye level to her and observes anyone walking past with interest. She’s bald on her tummy and has extremely short fur, so she has to wear clothes when it gets cold. We know she’s freezing because she shivers unless we dress her up in comfy sweaters. She has never chewed furniture or clothing. She doesn’t chew anything unless we give it to her, not counting the times she got into food we’d accidentally left out. Nora doesn’t seem as old as she is, either, because she’s as active and energetic as a much younger dog.

We could not have asked for a better dog. We love Nora because she’s our baby. I hope she’s forgotten all about her previous owners.