Photography by Sharon Radtke

In September 2015, Sharon was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disease and began taking pictures of birds as a distraction from the medications and treatments. Her goal was to document different species of birds on her 22 acre pond in Milton, Vermont. To date, she has documented 68 species of birds and continues to take photos most every day of birds and other wildlife at Pond House. Ninety-five percent of her photographs have been taken in her yard and most others throughout Milton. Sharon uses a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ70, a Nikon P900 camera, and Nikon D5600.

In December 2016, Sharon created her first bird calendar and “Pond House Birds Photography” was born. In January 2017, she joined the Milton Artists’ Guild and began displaying her work in their art center and gallery in April. Since then, her photographs have been displayed at numerous libraries throughout Vermont as well as at the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans; Garden of Eatin Café in Williston and in Burlington’s South End Art Hop and Arts Alive. She has participated in numerous arts and craft shows in Vermont including the Waterbury Art Fair; Festival of the Arts in Cambridge; Vermont Hand Crafters Show and the Vermont Flower Show. Her birds have been featured at the Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge in Swanton and the Birds of Vermont Museum.in Huntington. 

More of Sharon’s work can be seen at www.pondhousebirds.com or on Facebook (Pond House Birds).