6 March 12
Bluebirds prospecting
There is a Western bluebird pair scoping out the nest box by the office. Unfortunately for them, the tree swallows are interested too, and are far more aggressive. Maybe we need more boxes…
27 February 12
Eurasian Collared Dove
(Eurasian collared dove, graphite/prismacolor)! First time I’ve seen the Eurasian collared dove at work… Their range has been spreading throughout this region. I heard them at home at lunch today too.
20 February 12
Trumpeter Swans
I’m up in the San Juan Islands, Washington, for a spinning workshop. There are three trumpeter swans on a lake near my friend Jean’s house. I spent a good long while sketching them yesterday.
1 February 12
Scrub-jay after the Rain
Lots of bird activity today following a shower overnight, which our new weather station tells us provided .04” of rain…
9 November 11
Crows on Branch
22 October 11
Acorn Woodpecker in the Arboretum
This is only the second time I’ve ever seen this species in Davis. Lots in the chaparral, but not here….
14 October 11
Anna's hummingbird on nest
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.
29 September 11
Western Bluebird Perched at Dusk
26 September 11
Young Red-tailed Hawk
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…
25 September 11
Gulls at Point Reyes
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.
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.
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.