15 December 08
Red-tailed Hawk
There has been a lot of red-tail activity recently. This bird displaced another on the pole just outside the window. They are not being very vocal but there’s a lot of flying around.
I’m eager to get down to Vacaville where there’s a white phase Harlan’s hawk, a very unusual morph of red-tail. Eager to paint it. I don’t know how eager it is to be painted.
12 December 08
Scolding House Wren
We still have some sunshine! All the birds are out. Looks like the weather’s going to get a lot colder and wetter, with possibly even some snow, by the time of our Christmas Bird Count on Sunday.
Drawing the Motmot has alerted me to a fantastic site: video and audio clips of birds of the world. Fantastic sketching tool….
11 December 08
Northern Flicker
Now that the fog has lifted, birds that have been just far-off cries and calls have materialized. This flicker was very vocal this morning.
I finally saw my BIGBY pine siskins at lunchtime…
10 December 08
2 December 08
Oregon Junco
Mist. We go outside and get droplets on our eyelashes. The birds love it: lots of cover, not too very cold.
1 December 08
Ferruginous Hawk
Not today’s bird, but another one on Thanksgiving Day. This ferruginous was sunning itself at the top of the phone pole beyond the vegetable garden. Unbelievable to have this cool a bird in your yard…
28 November 08
25 November 08
Bird Silhouettes
“If you can’t see the eyes, if you can’t see the feet, if you can’t see the wings because the bird’s too far away or backlit, DON’T DRAW THEM!” he said.
My, how liberating. Don’t guess. Draw what you see. Only.
I am really hoping you can still tell what these birds are…
24 November 08
Killdeer on the Grass
Backlit, silhouetted.
23 November 08
House Finch
Given how often I see or hear these birds, it’s astonishing I haven’t sketched one yet for Bird by Bird, but here it is. This bird was trying to get at the bird bath and was being harrassed by white-crowned sparrows.