Happy World Migratory Bird Day and a belated Happy Draw-a-Bird Day! Did you see any new migratory birds today? I went out for a couple of hours and saw 24 different bird species, two of which were new migrants – a Palm Warbler and a Clay-coloured Sparrow. I also got caught in two short but […]
Happy Draw-a-Bird-Day! I mentioned in my last post that I had started the Cornell Lab Bird Academy Nature Journaling and Field Sketching course and had completed two lessons. Two months later, I’m on lesson 3, which has 3 little assignments, and I’m on the third, which involves comparing two similar entities that I observe in […]
I thought about posting these drawings last month but somehow the time never presented itself. So here they are now! Inktober and the cooler fall weather inspired me to draw more in October, about 3 to 5 days a week, and I kept up this frequency in November. Halfway through November, I started the Cornell […]
I had planned to post a different drawing, but the photo was mired in blue shadows that I couldn’t whisk away with Photoshop. So, I’m going with my ink drawing from Day 7 of Inktober. The drawing is already on my Instagram page, so to add a little newness to this post, I messed around […]
Happy Draw-a-Bird Day! I drew this hummingbird (based on a Golden-tailed Sapphire) with birds of paradise flowers back in February, when Edmonton had a week of -30 degree Celcius weather. Walking outside didn’t feel good, but the light for drawing was lovely: bright and crisp. I fudged the beak lines and my white gel pen […]
Happy draw-a-bird day! It has been a while since I posted. I’ve been feeling unwordy. I did get around to posting a few photos on Instagram. J and I moved to Burlington, Ontario from Edmonton, Alberta in early July. The birds, the vegetation and the humidity are quite different here! Burlington is near Toronto, on […]
Happy Draw a Bird Day! To celebrate, I present, my first tyrant flycatcher drawing! The Cuban Pewee, or Crescent-eyed Pewee, Contopus caribaeus, resides in Cuba and The Bahamas, and is occasionally sighted on the southeast coast of Florida. Keith Salvesen recently posted some lovely photos on his blog Rolling Harbour Abaco and he was cool […]
I drew these Black-throated tits, a.k.a. Black-throated bushtits, a.k.a. Aegithalos concinnus, a.k.a. Mésange à tête rousse, from a photo on Pinterest because they are cute, strikingly patterned and resemble chickadees. I couldn’t find any information on the photographer. The last drawing I posted was of a Black-capped chickadee and drawing it reminded me of a […]
Happy Draw-a-Bird-Day!!! I photographed this Black-capped Chickadee on December 8th, 2018, in Mill Creek Ravine Park. My first attempt at drawing this little fella looked pretty good up close, but when I took a step back, he kind of looked off balance, like he was going to fall backwards off his perch. Poop! Sigh. […]
Flying in a bit late for Draw-a-Bird-Day, this immature or female Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) was eating tiny crabapples in Mill Creek Ravine Park, in late November 2017. Pine Grosbeaks bite through the skin of crabapples, eat the seeds and discard the pulp. They do the same with mountain ash berries. Realistically, the feathers of […]
Happy Draw-A-Bird-Day! I didn’t plan on spending 12 hours with this raven but I did. I mostly used a mechanical pencil with a fat HB lead. The fat lead can be sharpened with the little steel head of the pencil but I found it easier to use my 3-sided pencil sharpener on the side with […]
Happy Draw-A-Bird-Day!!! Last fall I saw four species of warblers migrate through the Strathcona Rail Community Garden – Palm (drawing), Tennessee, Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped. Fall warblers also refuel in the forests along the creek and river near my home, but the garden is the easiest place to photograph the birds. There are no tall trees […]
