Birding With Pencils

Day 216: For the moment at least, I am attempting to make one bird sketch each day. I find that it takes at least an hour and a half (sometimes substantially more), and during the endeavour, I tend to lose track of the passage of time. When I finally reach the "Okay, that does it" stage, the morning has all but disappeared. I am also trying to improve my technique by watching YouTube videos on shading, blending, layering and so on, and it is obvious to me that I still have a lot to learn. Still, for someone who has had absolutely no training in art, I am happy with most of the portraits: 18 to date, one of which I will not make public because I could not capture the colour accurately. Top to bottom, left to right, here you see a female Black-Headed Grosbeak, a Piping Plover chick, Northern Cardinal, male Black-Headed Grosbeak, and a head study showing the differences in the field markings between Golden-Crowned and White-Throated Sparrows, often confused by novice birders who only catch a glint of golden yellow on the forward portion of the head. Each drawing was made from photos I have taken of the "locals" with the exceptions of the Plover chick (reference image from a friend) and the Northern Cardinal (a species we do not have in western Washington).

Where'd He Come From?

Day 144: Following the interrogative theme, today's feature is "Where," as in "Where the hell did HE come from?" Please forgive the crummy photos. When you're documenting a Life List sighting, it's important to capture the field markings at any cost. As it was, this White-Throated Sparrow would not come out of the deep shadows in the interior of the contorted filbert long enough for me to get a good shot. Consequently, I've settled for some loss of focus and have done quite a bit of processing to bring him out of hiding. I'm sure Zonotrichia albicollis must have been at my feeders before this, but only today did I notice that...what the heck? Yellow eye stripe? Light-tipped secondaries? Dark beakie? Smudgy tie-tack? Wait...white on the throat? That's not one of my regulars! And thus the photographic chase began, bird in the gloom, me at the open window, snow falling, the house rapidly getting colder. But there he is, and now I know to watch for him in the hopes of obtaining a decent "field guide" image.