My name is Pica. I live in Davis, California and I have another blog, Feathers of Hope, which I keep with my partner Numenius, and which isn't primarily about sketching birds. My ABA list stands at 697 700, which seems a fine time to start sketching birds instead of spending a fortune on a camera and lenses to start photographing them all... The first post from August 2007, detailing all this, can be found here. I am currently participating in the Big Green Birding Year (BIGBY); a list of birds seen on foot or by bike from our house in 2008 can be found below.
Contact me: pica at magpienest dot org
Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose (+Blue Goose)
Ross's Goose
Canada Goose
Cackling Goose
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wild Turkey
California Quail
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-heron
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Long-billed Curlew
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Ruff
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Red-necked Phalarope
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer's Gull
Western Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Glaucous Gull
Black Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Barn Owl
Western Screech-Owl
Short-eared Owl
Great-horned Owl
Burrowing Owl
White-throated Swift
Anna's Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Acorn Woodpecker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker (red and yellow-shafted)
Western Wood-peewee
Willow Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Cassin's Vireo
Hutton's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Western Scrub-Jay
Yellow-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Western Bluebird
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Phainopepla
Cedar Waxwing
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's and myrtle)
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Yellow Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Tricolored Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
Purple Finch
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
I’m working on a longer piece about bird foot anatomy, but couldn’t resist this lightning-fast sketch of a red-breasted nuthatch, my first of the fall… It was checking out the hole where the bluebirds nested.
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Oh, I love nuthatches. They remind me so much of my grandmother’s house.