We saw so many Oystercatchers a couple weeks ago on the Sonoma County coast and this is a color study where I am thinking about how I might iuse a couple in a painting.
Macaw and Parakeet Sketches
This Military Macaw was a rescue bird used to people. He visited our porch in Rancho Primavera, Jalisco, Mexico and chewed up the furniture.
We had a quick look at these Orange-fronted Parakeets - I liked that they were feeding among purple flowers.
Hooded Orioles
Our Hooded Orioles winter in Western Mexico. We saw these in a field with Vermillion Flycatchers and I loved all the red-oranges.
Black-throated Magpie-Jay
Groups of Black-throated Magpie-Jays were spectacular. We saw several groups on the Rancho Primavera near El Tuito, Mexico.
Streak-backed Oriole Sketch
While Dave was photographing I made a quick sketch. I liked the orioles half hidden by the purple flowers.
Heerman's Gulls & Black Turnstones
Winter birding in Monterey, California. This was a sketch done the first day on location.
Sketches with Sunflowers
These are a couple sketches from our recent birding trip to Idaho. There were wild sunflowers everywhere hosting goldfinch and pine siskins.
Green-tailed Towhee Sketch
This is the third year in a row we have found Green-tailed Towhees among the flowering manzanita shrubs in the Sierras. I love the various greens and the way the orange cap of the towhee mirrors the orange in the manzanita branches.
Mountain Warblers
Some warblers enjoy the heights. These are two we found a couple weeks ago in the mountains in SE Arizona.
Whiskered Screed-Owl sketch
A friend showed us where to find this bird close to the road and out in the open. She was asleep but opened one eye to check us out.
Five-striped Sparrow Sketch
These were not shy and even came out and posed for us. I loved that there were a pair foraging together, and I was also taken by the beautiful coloration, with a gray head grading into a brown body.
Cedar Waxwings
It was a treat to run across a flock of cedar waxwings last Tuesday especially because it was a slow birding day. This flock was foraging in a flowering madrone tree.
Orange- fronted Parakeet
Flocks of Orange-fronted Parakeets visited our fig tree every morning in Sayulita, Mexico, as we were eating breakfast on our veranda which was covered in bougainvillea.
Nayarit, Mexico
We have just returned fro four days birding in Western Mexico. Our first day was spent in De lo Marcos and the river mouth there was teaming with birds.
Warbler Sketches
This is a page from my birding journal from last May at Magee Marsh in Northern Ohio. Lots of birds and lots of warblers and lots of inspiration for paintings!
Common Mergansers
It has been raining constantly for the past week and Steven’s Creek, which can be dry in the summer, is overflowing it’s banks. Yesterday we came across a pair of common mergansers in the flooded stream and, while I’ve shied away from painting ducks in the past, these two in the stormy woods spoke to me.
Ferruginous Hawk Sketch
In general I don’t like using Dave’s photos as references for my paintings - except when the photo is flawed in some way.. In this case the hawk in the photo was lopped off on the right side. But I loved the pose and used it as reference for this quick sketch. It was amazing to see this hawk up close on our trip through Panoche Valley.
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Rufous-collared Sparrow
This perky bird has an extensive geographic distribution, occurring from southern Mexico to the southernmost tip of South America. We encountered a small group of them at the entrance to Los Quetzales National Park, Costa Rica, which is located near Cerro de la Muerte, the mountain of death, on the Pan American Highway. Once you drive this stretch of road, the origin of the “mountain of death” becomes apparent. We observed these birds around 9,000-10,000 above sea level. It was a cold, blustery, gray day when I photographed them and I wished there was more light to work with, but their beauty stands out even so.
Sandhill Cranes
One of the draws of driving to Merced National Wildlife Refuge is to see sandhill cranes. We did not see huge numbers as in past years but several groups were quite close. I love seeing the blue grey birds against dried grasses.
Mountain Plovers
The last three winters we have driven two hours to Panoche Valley to look for Mountain Plovers with no luck. But this year they were there! In fact there was a flock of over 80. In spite of having ‘mountain’ in their name these are birds of short grasslands and were once associated with bison herds.