By: Gary Michael Flanagan
“I have always been captivated by birds. From my early days growing up on Long Island, watching my mom generously load the bird feeders and fill our bird bath with fresh water, I gravitated towards the diverse species that would frequent our yard. At around the same time, I was always intrigued by my father’s shiny camera and lenses. I admired the wonderful portraits he took of our family over the years.
Many years later, during grad school at the University of Arizona, in Tucson, I decided to take up the hobby of photography to help relax me on the weekends.
Something sparked inside of me at that time, and I read everything I could on how to improve my photography skills and continued to go out exploring and shooting Arizona’s birds for the past 11 years.
I traveled all over Arizona, capturing photographs of rare birds such as the Elegant Trogon and Montezuma Quail near the southern border. My wife Stacy has joined me on many of these adventures, and we laugh about the great lengths of effort we have went through to find some of these rarities.
Long story, well..long, my wife and I grew lonely for our families who still resided in New York. Arizona was just way too far for her, and despite my greatest efforts, it’s difficult to fill the hole that missing family can leave in one’s heart. Thankfully, my full time job allowed for me to relocate back to the east coast, and continue working from home, while my wife landed a new job in North Carolina, allowing us to have the security we needed in order to plan the huge move. For my wife and I, the Sandhills region was perfect for us, and decently close to New York, so we are able to drive up to visit our families several times per year now. So, we took our pets and began our 2100 mile road trip to our new home!!
We arrived in North Carolina this past summer and absolutely love it. On our first day here, we were greeted by a Great Crested Flycatcher!! I have since photographed quite a few species so far, and happy to share them with you today. I look forward to continuing to explore this great state of North Carolina.
If you enjoy my art, prints are available for purchase through my website below.
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/gary-flanagan
I plan to share a blog posting of my birding adventures in the near future, as time permits.
Thank you!”
Bio: Gary Michael Flanagan is a published bird photographer based out of Pinehurst, North Carolina. He specializes in bird photography, pet portraits, and dog sports events. His bird photography prints can be purchased at
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/gary-flanagan
Birds featured:
Elegant Trogon (Madera Canyon, AZ)
Verdin (Oro Valley, AZ)
Gray Catbird
Eastern Towhee
Carolina Wren
Carolina Chickadee
Great Crested Flycatcher