Through the Lens of a Birdfy, She Found Fun and Peace from a Hidden World

Hi, I am Teresa! I live in San Antonio, Texas. One of my hobbies, and obsession, is bird watching.

My love of nature began after I was married almost 26 years ago when I moved into my husband’s home which is on 3 acres. My husband put up a bird feeder pole in front of our bedroom window where I was amazed at all the different birds that visited. I bought a bird identification book and kept a journal for several years of the different birds I saw, especially seasonal birds such as the Painted Buntings. I anxiously awaited them to arrive every April. I took pictures of birds from my window and bought mini camera binoculars to watch them, although the picture quality was poor.

❤️ The Hummingbird That Stole My Heart

Even though I did have a hummingbird feeder, I fell in love with those beautiful little birds after my husband rescued a baby hummingbird in 2008. We had a bad thunderstorm and lost a big tree where he found the baby hummingbird. He couldn’t locate the nest or momma bird, so he gave me the baby hummingbird to care for it. It was early evening, but I was able to contact our Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation. They were getting ready to close, but the rescue gave me advice on how to care for the baby hummingbird through the night until I could drop it off at their drop-off location the following morning.

I put the baby hummingbird in an open box in my bathroom with salvia and oak moss. I boiled sugar water and fed the baby hummingbird every 2 hours with a dropper throughout the night. It sat on the oak moss in one of my hands while I fed it. I fell in love with that baby while I cared for it, watching its long tongue go inside the dropper and drink. When I dropped off the baby hummingbird at the clinic, I was near tears as I was worried about it being properly cared for. I was reassured that the baby was in good hands and would be transported to their rescue center.

I did receive a postcard from the founder of the Wildlife Rescue letting me know how well the baby hummingbird was doing. Since then, I have donated once or twice a year to this amazing rescue that has helped me 2 more times taking in baby bunnies that my dogs found.

🌿 A Lifetime of Loving and Helping Animals

I have always had an interest and love for wildlife and pets. My parents had a private campsite on the Missouri River during my childhood in Iowa. I had always wanted to go on walks with my sisters so we could see birds and other wildlife. I was a Girl Scout Troop Leader for my daughter’s troop years ago, a Treasurer and active parent for my son’s Cub Scouts, then his Boy Scouts, so I spent a lot of time outdoors participating in nature related events.

I subscribe to the local Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation newsletter which helped me with the baby hummingbird, as well as wildlife and Humane Society magazines. I donate yearly to local shelters and rescues. I volunteered several years ago at the local Humane Society with my kids. I have 7 cats and 5 dogs, most of which were rescues, a few of them rescued by me or my daughter. 

💧 My Secret to a Pristine Bird Bath

When I started to keep a bird bath, I researched how to keep a bird bath clean and free of algae. I had problems in years past with algae build up, but didn’t know how to properly clean it. I read that a deep clean can be done by emptying the bird bath, put about ½ to 1 cup of distilled white vinegar and cover it with a kitchen or yard trash liner (bird bath bowl will determine what size liner you need to use).

Keep it covered for 1-2 days. If you want to check after 1 day, use a soft scrub brush and rinse with water thoroughly. If there is still buildup, you can put more vinegar in the bowl and cover again with liner. I wanted to prevent the build up from occurring again, so I researched again online. I found Martha Stewart had advice on how to clean the bird bath every morning with a capful of distilled white vinegar, do a light scrub with a soft brush if necessary, rinse thoroughly with water, then fill the bird bath with water.

My bird bath always looks clean now. I get a lot of compliments from members of the Netvue Birdfy Community.

🎨 Beyond Birding: Crochet, Crafts & Cardinal Decor

When I am not watching birds, I have other hobbies as well that I enjoy, such as crocheting and decoupage crafting (using beautiful picture napkins to put on wine bottles, tissue box covers, bird houses, and other various things to create beautiful crafts for myself and for family and friends as gifts at Christmas or birthdays).

My favorite decoupage creations were using napkins with Cardinals, and other birds, to make beautiful Christmas bottle decorations.

📸 How Birdfy Transformed My Bird Watching

My husband bought my first Birdfy feeder for Christmas, 2023, and I became a member of the Netvue Birdfy Community in late January, 2024. I had wanted a camera feeder for a while, but let my husband pick one out for me. I am so glad he chose Birdfy!

My bird watching with my Birdfy feeders and cameras does take up a lot of my time, which also includes filling and cleaning feeders, cleaning and filling bird baths, but I do not regret doing these chores. One Birdfy 1 Feeder wasn’t enough, so I added the Birdfy 2 Duo Feeder and the Pro Feeder, 2 hummingbird feeders, a Nesting Box (although no nest has been built by a bird yet), the new Birdfy Solar Bird Bath, and 4 standalone cameras (2 at regular bird baths and 2 at regular feeder poles). 

Birdfy has opened my eyes to such great experiences. I get to see birds close up instead of watching from a window or outside from a distance. I can see the birds’ colors and details on their feathers so clearly now. The video quality is so great! I enjoy watching their “childlike” behaviors with their bickering with other birds, frolicking in the bird baths, the courting period for birds during nesting season, watching a parent bird feed its baby at the feeder who is demanding attention by chirping and flapping its wings, and last summer seeing a cute baby Black-Crested Titmouse do a little “dance” for the camera while it ate. If I didn’t have my Birdfy feeder, I never would have seen any of these wonderful occurrences.

Once I added my Birdfy cameras to my regular bird feeders and bird baths, I was able to watch my birds more. Having a Birdfy camera at my bird baths has allowed me also to see birds who do not visit the feeders such as insect and fruit eating birds, as well as see seasonal and migrating birds that I have never seen before.

I had the wonderful experience this past Winter of having about 100 Cedar Waxwings and about 30 American Goldfinches visit my bird baths who stayed for 3 months! The Cedar Waxwings in previous years arrived in the Spring for a couple days to eat the loquat fruit on 2 of my loquat trees, then leave. I never saw them at close range to get a detailed picture. My Birdfy cameras allowed me to see how beautiful they are, the details of their beautiful yellow-tipped tails, the yellow underbelly, the red spots on the lower back, and, of course, the black mask across their eyes. 

The Cedar Waxwings gave me a lot of work, having to clean and fill my bird baths several times a day, as they drank a lot due to eating all the hackberries on my property and other berries nearby. It was worth the extra work to provide them water so I could experience seeing them and sharing my pictures and videos on the Netvue Birdfy Community group. Many people enjoyed seeing them who had never seen a Cedar Waxwing or only saw them in trees like I had in previous years.

🤝 The Netvue Community: Learning & Sharing Together

Being a part of the Netue Birdfy Community has given me the opportunity to learn from others. Before I joined this group, I had never heard of bird illnesses, such as avian pox or conjunctivitis. After seeing posts from other people who had birds with these diseases, it made me more aware of watching my birds more closely to see if any were sick.

Unfortunately, I had a few cases of avian pox last Summer and Fall. I did a lot of research on these diseases. I wanted to be a responsible person by taking down my feeders and bird baths, disinfecting them with bleach water (9 parts water to 1 part bleach), and keeping them down for a couple weeks to prevent these diseases from spreading to the other birds. It’s important to keep a clean feeder for the health of the birds even if your birds don’t have illnesses. 

Being a part of the Netvue Birdfy Community has allowed me to not only post my pictures and videos, but also see other members’ posts from all over the world who have different types of birds. I enjoy commenting on their posts and enjoy feedback from people, too, who enjoy seeing my bird videos and pictures. I like to make collages of some of the birds I may get in a day and post them.. I also like to be creative in the description of what the bird is doing, or jokingly pretend it’s the bird talking, making a funny phrase to catch people’s eye. 

🎉 Memories Made with Birdfy

I had the pleasure of being invited by Birdfy to attend the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in Harlingen to volunteer at their booth. It was really nice to meet 5 Birdfy employees and getting to know all of them. They were friendly and were interested in my opinions about the products. I enjoyed spending the weekend with them at the Birdfy booth and dining with them.

If I hadn’t been invited to the Birding Festival, which was my first one to attend, I would have missed the opportunity to go on a bird tour at the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas. I saw beautiful birds: a Screech Owl in a hollow cave in a tree, Great Kiskadees, Green Jays, and other birds close up. (To my great surprise, I had a Great Kiskadee visit one of my bird baths recently.

I have to thank Birdfy for their camera capturing this beautiful bird on video.) I also had Birdfy visit my home in January (Part of the Knock Knock Series). I met 4 more enjoyable Birdfy employees. I was able to show them around my property so they could see how I had my Birdfy feeder and cameras set up. (I have since purchased a few more Birdfy feeders and cameras).

🌟 My New Role & Ongoing Journey

I recently became a moderator for Netvue Birdfy Community, and enjoy helping the group by doing this volunteer job. This Community has allowed me to get to know people through our mutual enjoyment of bird watching. I have daily communication with many members as we comment on each other’s posts. I had the pleasure of having another member from another state visit my home and showed her my Birdfy feeders and cameras. I hope I have the opportunity to meet more Birdfy members in the future. 

My posts on my personal Facebook profile have also brought enjoyment to several family members and friends. I get a lot of feedback from people telling me how much they enjoy seeing my Birdfy pictures and videos. My family and a few old friends still live in the hometown where I grew up in Iowa. It’s nice to connect with them more often through my bird posts.