American Coot

I took the train on Saturday to Santa Clara for Stitches West. They were doing track work and we stopped on the Suisun Marsh, so I was able to sketch this coot in between eating, knitting, and laughing.

Harris' Hawk

I went to the Raptor Center at lunch again today with a sketching buddy. I was determined to work looser than my past few times there so I didn’t bring special paper along, which seems to put pressure on me to do a “drawing” rather than a sketch.

This is the same Harris’ hawk I’ve done before, the one that used to belong to a falconer and can no longer fly. She is very habituated to humans and doesn’t seem at all stressed, so I was able to spend a good long while figuring out the bill.

Still can’t draw them right, but sketching outside in the sun in February without even a coat on: Not much beats that.

Displaying Red-Shouldered Hawks

Lots of calling, swooping around, then it came: the tucked dive. The female followed after. It is such a joy to have these birds within ear and eyeshot…

Soggy Yellow-billed Magpie

Lots of drenching rain yesterday. The magpies alternated between foraging in raucous flocks and repairing to the walnut tree where they would shake themselves out, also raucously, before returning to the invertebrate feasts on the alfalfa field

Phainopepla

I led a trip for California Duck Days on Saturday. It was a sunny respite between two strong wet systems and we were treated to knockout views of this male phainopepla, guarding his patch of mistletoe. Note the punk do.

Conference Call Doodles: Friday

Red Crossbill

We don’t suddenly have red crossbills in the area. I sketched this one during Rodd Kelsey’s excellent talk on these birds last Wednesday…

Western Bluebird

American Robin

There are tons of worms for these guys with all the rain…

Albino Herring Gull

I went on a short jaunt at lunchtime today with a colleague to look for a reported lesser black-backed gull just north of Davis. We didn’t find it, but we found a group of birders on this spectacular white gull with a startling yellow-orange bill. The experts pronounced it an albino herring gull. I’m not sure I could ever come up with something like that… But it was a gorgeous bird in the field gently flooding in the rain.