Wednesday February 1, 2012

Scrub-jay after the Rain

Western scrub-jay, pen and wash Lots of bird activity today following a shower overnight, which our new weather station tells us provided .04” of rain…

Posted by Pica at 12:45 PM in Bird of the Day | Link | Comment

Monday January 2, 2012

Colusa NWR: Day One

Colusa NWR, looking north pen and wash

Eurasian wigeon A falcated duck has been reported off and on from Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, a mere hour north, for about three weeks. We didn’t get a chance to go before the holidays and then I was off to southern California, but we did finally get up there on Friday, December 30. Nobody saw it at all that day, but it was beautiful and calm after a storm had blown in… I sketched waterfowl, particularly shovelers and a nice Eurasian wigeon. Coots were getting territorial.
American Coots: pen and wash

Posted by Pica at 04:55 PM in | Link | Comment

Thursday November 10, 2011

Hermit Thrush

Hermit thrush, watercolor This one met an instant bad end on a plate-glass window this morning, but the colleague whose house it was brought it in for me to draw…

Posted by Pica at 05:21 PM in | Link | Comment

Wednesday November 9, 2011

Crows on Branch

American crow, brush and ink

Posted by Pica at 07:48 AM in Bird of the Day | Link | Comment [2]

Saturday October 22, 2011

Acorn Woodpecker in the Arboretum

Acorn woodpecker in Arboretum, pen and ink This is only the second time I’ve ever seen this species in Davis. Lots in the chaparral, but not here….

Posted by Pica at 02:45 PM in Bird of the Day | Link | Comment [1]

Friday October 14, 2011

Anna's hummingbird on nest

Anna's hummingbird on nest atop pinecoe Dusting off my Pentel brush pen, woohoo!! This drawing’s from a photo of a bird on a nest atop a pine cone at North Pond.

Posted by Pica at 11:47 AM in Bird of the Day | Link | Comment [1]

Thursday September 29, 2011

Western Bluebird Perched at Dusk

Western bluebird, prismacolor

Posted by Pica at 06:10 PM in Bird of the Day | Link | Comment

Monday September 26, 2011

Young Red-tailed Hawk

young red-tailed hawk; watersoluble graphite A hawk flew into the tree and stayed for a long time, partly obscured by branches. It finally flew out and across the field to the horse paddock, where it perched for long enough for a sketch…

Posted by Pica at 06:44 PM in Bird of the Day | Link | Comment

Sunday September 25, 2011

Gulls at Point Reyes

Western Gull hybrid x glaucous-winged gull, Derwent Inktense We spent the day at Point Reyes today, hoping for a massive fallout of warblers given the cold front that had come in. Unfortunately we only got five species, but we did have a lot of time to study gulls.

Western gulls, Point Reyes, Derwent Inktense The Western X Glaucous-winged hybrid, above, was at the Fish Docks near a Western — smudging in the face and not-quite-black primaries set them apart. We then went down to Drake’s Bay for lunch, which we shared with mostly Western gulls.

Western gulls, Point Reyes, Derwent Inktense I’ve been drawing these with Derwent Inktense pencils and adding water. It’s a great way to work fast. The colors are Bark and Indigo.

Posted by Pica at 07:20 PM in Bird of the Day | Link | Comment

Saturday September 17, 2011

Green Heron in the Afternoon

Green heron, watercolor At the UC Davis Arboretum today.

Posted by Pica at 03:49 PM in Bird of the Day | Link | Comment [4]

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