Swainson's Hawk

Being away for ten days gave the local birds time to get settled on nests. The Swainson’s at work is nesting in the top of the pine tree that didn’t blow down in our severe January storms. The male is vocal, active, and is harrassed pretty much constantly by crows.

I’m hoping to be able, someday, to render the near 180° roll of a Swainson’s hawk fending off a crow in flight, but for now this will have to do. I saw this bird drop down and pick off a small rodent (probably young ground squirrell) without really stopping; it was like a touch-and-go maneuver.

No Shortage of Birds to Draw

There have been birds, and I’ve even taken a pencil or pen to a couple, but I’ve been getting two or three lines of raptors in flight (and a mourning dove).

Today’s no exception; here’s a white-tailed kite in flight. But a grazing cottontail outside the window gave me a chance to play with rendering fur…

Rock Pigeons

Swainson's Hawks are Coming Back

I saw one yesterday; today, at least three. I haven’t heard their plaintive squeaks yet but no doubt soon enough…

Red-shouldered Hawk

The red-shouldered hawks are very vocal at the moment, giving themselves away. I caught this bird and its mate as they disappeared over the top of the pine tree to my north…

White-tailed Kite: Hovermaster

When Christopher was here over the weekend he spent a lot of time photographing birds. When he stopped to take a photo of this one, I took out my sketchbook.

It’s much harder than it seems, getting the angle right.

White-throated Swift

When you bike under the I-80 freeway these days to get to the UC Davis campus you’re likely to hear a frenzied twittering. The swifts are back. Some of them will nest right under the freeway; most will head further north and find, we hope, a natural place for their nest that doesn’t expose them to this much danger.

I saw three yesterday flying in close formation. This is my sketch of them from memory.

Short-eared Owl

Following a report of short-eared owls (10 of them) hunting before dusk along road 28H, we headed out there yesterday evening after work on our bikes. We ran into fellow Bigbyer Steve at the spot. Sure enough, there were 5-8 owls working this one field looking like giant monochrome butterflies.

Flight

Super excited to try out the new technique of working a bird’s flight planes and then filling in the wings depending on what you See rather than Think. This is much harder than it sounds.

These crows and turkey vulture didn’t give me much time but you look, close your eyes, consolidate the image, and then get it down on paper. Lots more practice needed, but I can already see this is going to make birds in flight a lot easier to render on a two-dimensional surface…

Rain and the Crows Wheel

Our first big storm of the season today. Twenty-four hours of rain, they say. But a gentle rain, not wind-lashed.

Very few birds around but this afternoon flocks of crows were wheeling and dancing through the light drizzle. Like them, I feel like dancing in the benevolent wet.