In 2020, when the pandemic shut down much of Georgia, Mary Buck found herself staying at home for several months.
She put up a few bird feeders and bird baths and started to notice the birds that arrived. A professional photographer, Buck began to take pictures. And something wonderful happened.
Buck has assembled many of those photos, and the stories behind them, in her new book, “Wings Over Duluth, From Isolation to Inspiration with the Discovery of My Backyard Birds.”
Inspiration beyond just birds
The birds that started coming to her backyard truly inspired Buck. As she wrote in the book’s introduction: “I soon discovered the hidden magic of nature just steps from my door. What began as a simple task became a passion that would change how I view the world. These birds became my refuge.”
When the pandemic hit, Buck had only lived in her house in Duluth for about eight months. “I sat outside a lot because I love to be outside,” she recalled. “The weather was so nice that spring, and I just started taking pictures. And I just really got hooked on it.”
Backyard haven
Although she doesn’t consider herself a birder — “I’m really a woman with a camera and a passion,” she said — Buck has ventured deeply into the world of birds.
She’s identified 30 different species in her backyard alone. And she’s gotten to know some of the birds individually.
“I started to recognize the birds that would come back by,” Buck said. “You think a blue jay is a blue jay, but some of them had markings on them. I would give them names like Hank.”
Buck has since met other bird watchers and likes to share tips with them. She’s gotten up early to be outside just after sunrise for the best light and the most interesting birds. She’s also invested in new photographic equipment.
Her main bird watching venue is her small backyard in downtown Duluth. She put up the feeders and baths among the trees and shrubs right next to her back patio.
Her book describes the yard as “a vibrant bustling haven for birds.” Cats, squirrels, chipmunks and an escaped canary too. Plus, something Buck described as “the weirdest, strangest animal,” which she hasn’t been able to identify yet.
Seeing and learning so much
Buck loves watching the lives of the birds unfold in her backyard.
“I think it’s almost like a sport,” she said. “I just love to sit back on my porch and have my coffee or my wine and just photograph the birds. When I see them close up, I can see the markings around their eyes.”
Although she’s reluctant to narrow her favorite bird down to just one, Buck admits she loves the cedar waxwing.
“It looks waxy,” she said, “but it has a face like Clark Gable. It’s a very handsome bird. When they’re in the trees, they light up like light bulbs. They’re just incredible.”
She’s also fascinated by what happens when a Cooper’s hawk, a predator, comes to visit.
“The Cooper’s hawk comes to small backyards like this because it likes to be close to the bird feeders and the small birds,” Buck explained. “When the Cooper’s hawk comes, the other birds fly away. The birds can sense a predator coming.”
Expanding hobby
Though Buck’s main birding site is her backyard, that’s not the only location she goes to.
Two of her favorite places — the Roswell Riverwalk and Garrard Landing — are included in “Wings Over Duluth” as well.
She also keeps up with a bald eagle couple at Mountain Park. The male and female are nesting there, so Buck knows where to find them. She loves to watch the eagles fish in the lakes at the park.
A lot of hard work
Buck did not start out wanting to write a book. But she likes to try new things. “I’m never afraid to try anything new,” she said.
She’s an active blogger and posts frequently on social media. The encouragement she got from her followers when she would post bird pictures is one of the reasons she wrote “Wings Over Duluth.”
“I felt it was a good way for me to showcase my work from four and a half years,” she said.
It was a lot of hard work. Buck sorted through literally thousands of photographs she’d taken over those four years to select the ones to be included in the book.
Stunning photographs
And those photographs are beautiful. Clear and colorful photos of more than 28 types of birds perching, eating, socializing and bathing. Hatchlings in the nest. Moms feeding their babies. A Cooper’s hawk staring ominously from a fence.
Buck provides some background on each bird featured as well. Although she’s an accomplished writer, using publishing software was a new skill she had to learn, and self-editing the text was a challenge.
“It took a lot of time to put it together,” she said, “My editor was basically me and my sister Sandy in Wisconsin. I’d send her some paragraphs, and she’d look at them for me.”
Buck is justifiably proud of the end result and is thinking about publishing more books, including expanding geographically to write about the birds of Atlanta and Georgia, and creating an illustrated children’s bird book.
Dedicated to Parker
The book is dedicated to Buck’s granddaughter Parker, who loves to go on birding walks with her grandmother and has shown “boundless curiosity” that further inspires Buck.
The last photograph in the book probably sums up the wonder and inspiration Buck has found in birding. It shows a female cardinal feeding a juvenile brown-headed cowbird.
Buck writes: “Even in nature, where differences abound, care and compassion find a way. May this be a reminder for us all — no matter how different we are, the world is a better place when we take care of each other.”
“Wings Over Duluth” is available online at the Lightscapes Photography website, lightscapesphoto.com/wings-over-duluth.
Photos courtesy of Mary Buck
