My heart is American and my soul is European.

Right after I moved into my current place in May 2014, all kinds of adorable songbirds and super cute rodents determined I must be "kosher" after checking me out most thoroughly. It was also at this time, that Flaushi himself was born and immediately took a shining to me, without there being any goodies involved.

"Flauschig" actually means fluffy in German and there is no fluffier bird out there than my very special and completely wild Eurasian acorn jay named Flaushi (pronounced Flow-shee).

Truly a little round Buddha with his sweet disposition and good-natured manner, Flaushi simply gets along famously with every living being on and around my enchanted terrace.

Even though I grew up on somewhat of a nature sanctuary just outside of New York City, I never came across such a bird or other animal there or anywhere else despite undergoing some rather amazing and unusual wildlife encounters, time and again.

Shortly after I discovered their general peanut fetish in October 2014 thanks to Flaushi’s ingenuity, my feathered and furry friends then decided that I needed to create a picture book series that relayed their amazing adventures to children of all ages.

Hence, "Flaushi the Buddha Jay" was born along with a slew of extra booklets for the series.

New characters have been turning up every week ever since October 2014, all of them requesting that I write them into the series. Their Twitter system is most effective!

The tales keep unfolding here on my terrace each day as my crazy cute characters continue to come up with new storylines for me to jot down and I often feel as if I am actually living in a Disney-Pixar movie. At other times, I am convinced that my childhood heroine Beatrix Potter and her characters have decided to reincarnate here.

Since October 2014, I have been taking pictures and making little film clips of my feathered and furry friends. It all started out just as a personal documentation of our interactions as I am a total novice.

After upgrading my camera and joining Flickr in early 2016, I started focusing on becoming one with my little friends in order to create portraits of them that capture their special souls and wonderful essence.

All shots are done handheld and neither edited nor processed in any manner. Many of them are taken just a few inches away from the little supermodels, most of whom seem to truly enjoy "posing" for my camera.

I always make sure that my flash is turned off and that I never do anything that could possibly cause them distress or worse. Their well-being is my number one priority and I will even first ask for their "permission" when I take their portrait.

The special friendships which have developed have had a huge impact on my life, changing it for the better. I have learned so much from my dear little friends besides all of the joy they continue to give me.

They will even specifically stop by to check up on me whenever I am out of sorts. Flaushi, in particular, has an uncanny knack of knowing what is going on with me. His sense of timing is anything but coincidental.

Hope you enjoy getting to know my dear little friends and muses ;-)

Please Note: My photos and all the written materials are copyrighted and cannot be used or shared without my express written permission. A select number of my images on here are available for official download via the Getty Images website.

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