About Elizabeth Donaldson
My Passion Story
As an advocate of the outdoors, I am delighted to offer my knowledge and share my experiences on hummingbirds, bees, and backyard chickens.
Following the devastating Thomas Fire on December 4, 2017, which destroyed my childhood home and everything I owned, I made the decision to direct my energy on something positive and constructive in order to assist and heal my grieving heart.
As far back as I can remember, my family always fed and created a secure backyard sanctuary for hummingbirds. I have fond memories and am continually mesmerized by their elegance, beauty and energy. From their dedication to diligently securing food sources to showing off to a future mate they dazzle my imagination.
I was initially introduced to the wonders of bees by my brother. When he went away to college he had the opportunity to observe firsthand in his backyard how to build a beehive, capture a swarm, and extract honey. He showed me how to harvest honey along with teaching me the value of a bee suit when I visited him frequently. Fresh golden local honey tastes amazing. I found it astounding how much effort bees must put forth to produce a teaspoon of honey, something I take for granted.
Prior to the Thomas Wildfire, I had chickens. I saved them from the fire as they almost perished. Since my living circumstances changed I had nowhere to keep my chickens. I found a very kind couple with chickens of their own. They wanted to help the people impacted in the community and offered to adopt my hens and give them a home.
My passion always stemmed and rooted from my hummingbird experiences. During the past 2 seasons, I have witnessed two hummingbird nests being constructed on a single bulb on a string of outdoor lights at my residence.
I initially believed I had a crazy hummingbird on my hands, but as I patiently observed, I was monitored and witnessed the steps of a female hummingbird searching for a place to build her nest, gather nesting materials, and watch the nest being constructed gradually, piece by piece. I saw all the stages from brooding [sitting on the eggs] to fledgling [babies flying the nest].
I watched this phenomenon right before my eyes! I never imagined in a million years that I would witness the step-by-step development of a hummingbird nest being built in my own backyard, especially twice in one year! I thought this only happened on the National Geographic channel. During this process, as you can imagine, I had numerous questions to research.
Now my eyes were open and sensitized to my surroundings. I realized spotting hummingbird nests in nature to be much easier than I believed. I helped train my mother’s eye and she spotted a nest in her Jacaranda tree the very next year!
My excitement and enthusiasm for the wilderness allows me to share my knowledge, photos, videos and tips on backyard wildlife. This is your go-to site for questions and answers on these topics, regardless of your level of experience with the outdoors.
My Work Story
I have always enjoyed nature, especially with a passion for hummingbirds and their habitats, therefore I am naturally drawn toward the profession of landscaping.
I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo [SLO] in Southern California to major in Landscape Architecture, however I quickly realized I lacked fundamental drawing abilities sorely needed in this industry. I was sadly disappointed and changed majors. In doing so I still kept the knowledge and experience I had gained from my Landscape Architecture classes to guide me in my future endeavors.
I graduated from Cal Poly SLO; the timing of my graduation was terrible. At that time the “Great Recession” was just getting underway. Times were tough for all millennials graduating in this time period.
Fortunately, I managed to land a low-paying position in the jewelry industry. While gemstones and precious metals did intrigue me and I learned a lot, I did not have a passion for jewelry. I switched occupations after five years and worked for the city in Records. Although I am not passionate about my current job, it covers the bills and provides just enough income to break even.
Right before the fire, my father decided to make a website to provide information about his passion, physical therapy. His website idea piqued my interest and I wondered how I could do the same thing.
I decided to give the online website a try and figured this would also give us an opportunity to bond and keep ourselves in check on our progress with our websites. I have always been intimidated with the online web and did not know where to start, but It is nice to begin a new journey with a warm familiar mentor.
This rekindled my passion for hummingbirds and how to attract, protect, feed, and apply my landscaping knowledge towards building hummingbird sanctuaries in my backyard or garden.
As I created my website content and dove into the technology world, I needed guidance with the technical aspects of developing a website and luckily, my father had already researched and tapped into the guidance of a team that teaches website building and marketing.
My goal is to be a content creator and start my own internet business. I want to share my knowledge and information about backyard visitors and how to easily incorporate them into our everyday lives.
As a nature enthusiast, I am excited to share on my Backyard Visitors website, all that I have learned using questions both conceptualized and implemented related to hummingbirds, backyard chickens, and bees. My goal is to teach and inform curious minds about their behaviors, characteristics and life lessons.