Saturday, January 31, 2009

Gone to the Birds

For your viewing pleasure, please click on this link (then click on the title next to the little video camera icon) to see the local news story that Steph Anderson did last night about her birdwatching visit to my backyard.

Thanks Steph, you did a really swell job with this story!

23 comments:

Beth said...

I just loved watching that, Ruth. That's an amazing habitat that you have created.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

It was fun seeing and hearing you talk about your backyard habitat. It looks wonderful even covered with snow. No wonder you get so many birds Ruthie. It is good to spread the word about backyard habitats. We can possibly save the planet one garden at a time.

Kim said...

What a great treat to wake up to this morning Ruthie. I can't get over the difference in the before and after of your back yard.

What a wonderful tribute to your dedication to the birds all of these years. Well done.

Jayne said...

What a great job Steph did and how fun to see you and the beautiful habitat you've created Ruthie! BRAVO!

Anonymous said...

What an amazing thing to happen . . your famous . . . . ! I love the park "and the woodpecker flew by"

Richard said...

A celebrity in out midst. We got to see some of your house, some of your yard, and hear your voice. The couple of birds seen was just for atmosphere.

Good job.

KGMom said...

Yay--Ruthie--you are celebrity.
I agree--I like the "before" and after look.

The weather reporter must not know birds--even I can identify blue jays, doves and cardinals! Aren't they all sports teams? No, not doves.

One more comment--I love your wide window with the stained glass.

NCmountainwoman said...

Absolutely wonderful! Best of all was getting so see you and hear you...almost like being there. Great post. Hope your fifteen minutes aren't all used up.

Ruth said...

What a great news story! And nice to see you up close and personal. Maybe this will be the catalyst for a new and rewarding career. Your yard is beautiful. I have to find a way to save this video.

Mel said...

Ruthie!!!!
It's so great to see you and hear you!!!
Too bad my yard is tiny and can't place feeders due to a large number of neighbouring cats :(
CONGRATS!! And go for those 'new open windows'.
I wish you the best!
Besos,
Mel

Anonymous said...

Way to go Ruthie, excellent video to boot.

At least there was no work for this video everything came across very natural, just like you and me talking.

CONGARTS !!!!

MOM

RuthieJ said...

Thanks Beth. I started a post last summer of "before" and current photos of the backyard. I need to get that one finished so you can see how much the backyard has truly changed.

Hi Lisa,
The backyard is a bird-filled paradise now--the first winter we lived here I had only crows and horned larks. It's amazing what a few (hundred) trees and shrubs have done!

Thanks Kallen. It's definitely worth all the effort I've put into it over the past 20 years.

Thanks Jayne. Even on a windy and cold day, the birds were very cooperative.

Hi Mon@rch,
Steph got to see the Hairy Woodpecker when she was here, but the red-bellied didn't show up until she was packing up the camera.

Thanks Richard. I was hoping she'd get a shot of a bluejay, but they were being kind of shy that day.

Thanks Donna. Steph is really new to birding, but willing to learn and I promised to take her along on some birding trips when the weather gets a little nicer this spring.
Besides being pretty, the stained glass window decorations also help to keep birdies from crashing into the window.

Thanks Carolyn, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks Ruth. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've asked her to come back in the summer so she can see where all the birds nest and the wildflower garden blooming too.

Thanks Mel. Cats are a huge problem--especially in town. I have one roaming around here too--I tried to get Sophie to catch it a few weeks ago but she wasn't up to tangling with a hissing cat.

Thanks Mom, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Steph is really nice and I was happy to have someone to talk about birds and habitat with for a couple hours. Oh yeah, did I tell you she's a knitter too?

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

HAAA!!!
~~~~shaking my hands in the air~~~~

That's OUR Ruthie on TV!!

Steph did a terrific job and you were perfect.

Heidi said...

w00t! i'll be meeting a famous woman pretty soon! Well, MN and blogosphere famous ;) And I won't have any trouble recognizing you now.

That was a wonderful interview your friend did :) Hopefully it spread the word on simple things people can do in their own backyards.

Interestingly enough, after that video was several other videos on unemployment... and how the state's insurance is sufficient... that's good news anyway!

Mary said...

Ruthie, this was a thrill for me to see you as a celebrity! You did a great job and didn't appear to be a bit nervous. Steph was a good reporter, too.

Yahoo! What fun!

Hugs,
Mary

Kelly said...

Wow! That's the coolest thing. I bet you will inspire a few more people to become bird watchers!

Anonymous said...

That's pretty darn cool. You should be really proud of everything you've done. I've been impressed by your yard anyway, but I didn't grasp the enormity of it all until I saw the "before" pictures!

Anonymous said...

Ruthie!!!!!!!WOW!!!!!Love your place! What's the old addage....I will bloom where I'm planted. Boy did you ever! You sounded and looked so at ease. Well, I guess I should'nt be surprised...you were in your habitat.

RuthieJ said...

Thanks Lynne, I was happy to be sitting down at the table--my double chin hardly showed and the table and sweatshirt camouflaged everything else!

Hi Red,
I try to spread the habitat message wherever I go--I think people don't realize what they can accomplish in even a suburban backyard.

Thanks Mary, I was mostly worried about how she was going to film through my dirty windows, but everything turned out OK!

Thanks Kelly, I sure hope so.

Thanks Danielle, I wish I had remembered to say that we had planted more than 500 trees and shrubs in the last 20 years. The change is truly amazing.

Thanks Cindie. It's been quite an adventure and I'm happy to see my habitat goals being accomplished.

Mary C said...

Ruthie, I finally got the chance to watch the video. Great job, my friend! I had to chuckle, though, that the news station would feature a wildlife habitat to the public during the snowy winter months. Too bad they don't put the feature on during the spring or summer months, well, even the fall would be colorful! ;o) Nonetheless, you and Steph did a good job to feature how important it is to have a backyard habitat. Thanks for sharing the link with all of us.

Carolyn H said...

Ruthie: Great video. How very cool. You've done great things with your backyard.

Carolyn H.

RuthieJ said...

Thanks Mary, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I invited Steph to come back over in the spring when the wildflowers are blooming. Winter is good because there aren't any leaves on the trees and we can see the birds much better. Once the trees leaf out, a lot of my view from the dining room is obscured.

Thanks Carolyn. All the expense and hard work (digging holes for trees and shrubs, hauling water, trimming and pruning) is paying great dividends now with the increase in wildlife and birds.

Heather said...

Hi Ruthie. Just now got around to watching the video. It was great to see you and your birding sanctuary. I loved the end of the video when you were laughing at the bird. You looked like you were having such fun. I hope things are going well with you. Ironically, when I was reading the story that goes with the video, I noticed over on the side a list of most watched videos, and one of them was about job cuts at IBM. =sigh= I'm thinking about you, sister.