I've always been fond of birds, but I can’t say that I fully appreciated the diversity nor the tenacity of our feathered friends until I worked with them as a volunteer at the Toronto Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre when I lived in downtown Toronto in the early 1980’s. Holding a small, delicate finch in my hands, I marvelled at how such a fragile thing could survive the harshness of nature. Waterfowl especially, has become one of my favourite subjects.