Leslieville birder prints calendar

She decided to make a colourful 2011 calendar featuring her feathered friends found in her area

By Kimberly Spice –

Pat Anderson

Pat Anderson might be a cat owner but her love for birds has inspired her to make a colourful 2011 calendar featuring her feathered friends found in the Leslieville area.

Anderson, after posting her bird photographs online, received a number of positive comments along with the suggestion for a calendar, which prompted her to pursue the project.

“As birds came and I took their photos, I put a lot of them up on the leslieviller.com website so other people in the neighbourhood would learn to recognize some of the birds we get,” Anderson told The Bulletin. “A number of people said that they would love to have a calendar.”

Anderson, now in her 50’s, has been planning a career as a full-time photographer for some time so when she was laid off in February as a manager of technical writers and software designers she was not overly disappointed.

“I’m now turning it (photography) into a career,” commented the Queen-and-Pape area resident. “I was laid off in February, so I’m making the switch from technical publications to photography.”

Over the years Anderson, who used to be a master gardener, upgraded her backyard into a bird-friendly environment by adding shrubs and a water feature, which helps entice the birds to make a stop on their long trek north and south.

Attracting birds into her backyard would normally be a hazard with cats around but Anderson, who expresses her views to other cat owners, believes her feline companions, Nutmeg and Pepper, should always remain securely indoors.

“I do come out and tell people that they should be keeping their cats indoors especially during migration season,” Anderson points out. “North American birds are not used to cats.”

Her website is www.patanderson.net.