I used to live in the country between grass seed fields on a piece of property that was planted for a small Christmas tree farm.  When we moved there we just let the trees grow which became a small 1 acre forest with a meadow at the back and a pond beyond that so we had the perfect habitat for birds.  We installed a couple of high platform feeders with roofs and two bird baths, one shallow for small birds and one deeper for the larger birds.  One day a hawk even bathed in the larger one.  We had a couple of coveys of quail that would merge and separate during the year that came to scratch under the feeders and bring their babies.
I had a lot of time to watch the birds and learned to identify their voices.  My flower gardens were all around the feeders and the birds became accustomed to my presence so they were not afraid to feed when I was outside.  If others of my family were outside, the birds would wait in the trees but if I came out as well, they would come down.  If the feeders became empty the blue jays would loudly let me know.
I used to tease the jays sometimes by sitting with my eyes almost closed until they got bold and then suddenly open my eyes so they would squawk and fly away.  It was a great game and they love games.
I had a cat that was a very good birder (so sad) but he loved to show me his birds.  I would sweetly encourage him to show the beautiful birds to me and he couldn’t help himself and would drop them at my feet.  I would hold him kindly as they flew away.  He never learned.  My favorites of all the birds were the quail and the winter wrens.
It was always such a joy to spot unusual visitations at the feeders and to have flocks of migrating birds come through and feed at the feeders.  Those were the years that I learned all about birds and also to love them especially.
I have been an artist all my life in many different mediums and I have also quit from time to time.   I do love coloring.  This last time when I got the urge to get back to creativity I started with some line drawings but I really wanted to color something with shadings and subtleties.  One day I decided to draw birds.  It was all just for the fun of coloring. Then my friends saw them and encouraged me to have them made into cards and then people wanted to buy them.  They are now more readily available.  I have so enjoyed the process of using colors and choosing what color to use and having colors around me.