a closer look

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting an internet friend in real life for the first time and we spent the whole day, from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon walking and talking (to each other and the birds) as if we'd known each other forever!

Susanne Swing Thompson is fellow nature noticer, bird photographer and writer living in Atlanta, Georgia. She photographs the birds in her neighbourhood and shares them in a lovely weekly email called A Closer Look which I look forward to every Saturday. And she looks forward to my Three Somethings too. You could say we have mutual newsletter appreciation!

Susanne first discovered my work when her friend sent her a magazine clipping of an article about my studio many years ago which she kept as she found it inspiring. She followed me on Instagram and then a couple of years ago we started chatting (about American goldfinches apparently). I looked up her work and I was blown away by her stunning photos. It wasn't just a goldfinch, it was a goldfinch swinging on a decaying poppy seed head. It wasn't just a waxwing, it was a waxwing hanging upside down so gracefully to eat some berries. I thought they were wonderful.

As an aspiring bird photographer, I knew I was a million miles away from her bird photography skills but I could see instantly that we were equals when it came to SEEING. Her photos are full of the love that I feel when I look at our feathered friends.

I bought her book, she bought mine and I remember saying that if we ever went for a walk together we would have a lot to talk about, so I was over the moon when she said she would be visiting the UK and could she call by on the way to visit The Lake District with her husband.

I kept the day free. This was going to be a big one.

Domenique took our picture in my studio and then off we went, out into the morning to see what we could see.

I told her that I had had a quiet word with the birds on my way into town and let them know them that Susanne was coming and to please come out and say hello, so we found it hilarious when only a few yards up the river path the heron struck this perfect pose and the dipper landed on a rock nearby next to a mallard. The grey wagtail kept zipping by, blue tits hung on a sycamore branch over hanging the water and a chaffinch sung in a tree above.

Thank you friends.

We saw one of the juvenile dippers being fed by it's parent 

and we cooed over this brood of ducklings. Doesn't Mamma duck look proud?

I took Susanne to see the dipper nest and would you believe it, as I pointed it out amongst the foliage we saw a chick plop out of the nest into the river with a splash. It was as much a shock for us as it was for it! It flew back out of the water and hung onto the wall. Can you see it?

There was so much action on the river path!

As well as introducing her to our birds I was excited to take her to the woods to meet the bluebells because she had never been in a bluebell wood before! 

Needless to say she loved it so much and it wasn't long before she was down on the floor looking through the lens and having a closer look!

They were spectacular

and the white stitchworts were complimenting them so beautifully.

Imagine seeing a bluebell wood for the first time...

Imagine seeing someone else see a bluebell wood for the first time...

I'm not sure who was most excited!

We sat high up on a rock and Susanne drew in her nature journal. I challenged her to draw every single one of those trees! Can you believe how many there are?

It's wonderful to see your own neighbourhood through someone else's eyes, especially someone who sees things in a similar way to you. It was such a pleasure to walk and walk and talk and talk all day long and also know that they wouldn't be offended when you SHUSH them mid sentence to listen to a bird!!

Maybe one day, hopefully when the political landscape has found some equilibrium (we can hope), I'll go over and see what she sees and look at those American goldfinches through my lens. 

Susanne shared her beautiful journal entry with me. It's lovely to be in those pages.

I can't wait to see her photos from our day. x

You can see Susanne's photography here and I recommend her weekly newsletter. If you like the my Three Somethings you are sure to like A Closer Look.