Barn Swallow

Barn swallows are everywhere around the house these evenings…

UPDATE: This post was kindly featured by Wren for I and the Bird, #83. This was despite any effort on my part whatsoever. I should try and remember to get my stuff in to these carnivals, because some of them are really good.

Yellow-billed Magpie

Young magpies are now flying around in great cacophonous flocks, interested particularly in the newly-mowed alfalfa field. I caught this one out the kitchen window this morning. Their tails are nearly full length and they brandish them like sabers.

Happy to see them, though: we thought they might be very hard hit by West Nile Virus. I wrote a blog post about this in 2003, and notice I was reminding myself to go out and sketch birds. Ha. Here I am.

In that same post I refer to Richard Bell’s Wild West Yorkshire — Richard is the absolute BEST that Britain has to offer in nature sketching, and there are lots of fantastic nature sketchers in Britain. I see following my earlier link that he has finally added an RSS feed to his website. I’m very happy about this. I rely heavily, now, on RSS feeds. Please take a look, but be warned: you may get lost in there.

White-tailed Kite and Two Doodles

Last night, before it was quite dark, a kite landed in the top of a pine tree. These are gorgeous birds and I never feel I do their beauty justice. I’ll just have to do more of them.

At lunch today an Anna’s hummingbird came very close to check me out (I was wearing a red shirt). I mean, so close I was worried about getting an eye injury from that long bill. I drew this from memory, something I find I’m doing a lot of.

I drew this as a doodle; it’s not a particular species. I’m trying to learn how much the bone above the bird’s eye determines its fierce look.

Cooper's Hawk

Squeaking drew my eyes outside; sure enough, a Cooper’s hawk had buzzed the ground squirrels and had landed in a tall eucalyptus. I sketched it quickly.

Then I found out about Brazilian bird artist Frederick Pallinger. He specializes in raptors, and he paints them digitally. His paintings take a long time to do.

I didn’t spend so long — maybe an hour and a half — but I think I’d like to play with this medium a bit more. It’s not as easy as it seems.

Osprey

I was on my bike over the creek when a large bird overhead caught my eye: an osprey! I’ve been striking out on this bird every time we’ve been to Lake Solano on our bikes, so it was a huge thrill to see one so close to home.

I biked home fast, told Numenius (who was not able to find it), then biked back north. Again, I did this sketch from memory. Looking at the field guide I see I got the black marking in the face wrong, but you’ll just have to imagine it has white over the eye…

My father loved ospreys; he’d have been 79 today. Happy birthday, dad.

Barn Owl

These days when I wash my hair I go outside to comb it out — keeps all that long gray hair off the floor. This morning I was out there. It wasn’t yet dawn but pleasantly cool. I looked out over the field at the turkey battalions making their orderly way down from the levee top.

Then, there it was. The barn owl. Rowing silently through the air. I forgot the hair and ran back inside to draw it from memory. (Note to self: go nowhere, not even outside to comb your hair, without a sketchbook in your pocket.) I think the wings are a little short — it’s a ludicrously small bird for its wing mass. Glorious, though. Ghost bird.

Western Kingbird

One way to make sure I get a sketch of a bird done is to do it first thing in the morning. The advantage is that it’s cool and the birds are active; if I’m not super late I have time for a sketch; and I have all my materials to hand. I sat down for about 15 minutes and got a nice little species group in the almond tree (Nuttall’s woodpecker, Western scrub-jay, Bullock’s oriole, Anna’s hummingbird, Western kingbird).

I am hoping to get some more color sketches done of Western kingbirds before they start taking off for the tropics. Which is soon. Time is flying by…

Northern Mockingbird

This juvenile mockingbird was sitting in the top of the almond tree in beautiful morning light…

Red-tailed Hawk

Took a trip to the Raptor Center at lunch with a friend to sketch. I clearly need more remedial bills…

Blue Grosbeak (and some shorebirds)

We went out this morning as a group of 9 hoping for shorebirds. We weren’t disappointed. We saw a marbled godwit in among some long-billed curlews not too far from home. This gorgeous blue grosbeak stole the show, however.