This blog is devoted to showing pictures and paintings of birds, and it is our hope that these images create interest in the enjoyment and the conservation of this diverse group of animals.
Western Tanager. Photo taken near Truckee, California
Floy pretty much described this bird in her post below. We see it show up in the spring in the San Francisco Bay Area, usually, but not always in riparian areas. It is a common summer bird in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Dave has been posting images of the colorful tanagers we saw in Costa Rica. Our local Central California tanager is the Western Tanager. It is no longer in the Tanager family but the name survives. We see these birds in the summer, particularly in the Sierras, when the males have brilliant breeding plumage. They have inspired many paintings.
I guess it’s time for an interlude from things tropical, well, at least for a few posts. Floy and I did our annual trip to the migratory birding areas of San Louis and Merced National Wildlife Refuges and the Panoche Valley, all of which are in Central California. Panoche Valley is semi-desolate, with some cattle farming. This area attracts birds that are not often seen in the San Jose, California area such as Horned Larks, Mountain Plovers, Mountain Bluebirds, etc. It’s not unusual to see this species there in the winter. After rain, the Panoche area can be emerald green. Beware of the mid-summer because it can become very hot and dry.
This is the same hawk Floy presented in her sketch below. Unlike other hawks of the area, this one spends a great deal of time standing in open fields. Scanning the vast fields of the valley, it’s not uncommon to see them standing as a white pillar in the distance.
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.
A 12” x 12” watercolor on wood panel
Here is a painting I did a couple of years ago. These are in the same genus (Zonotrichia) as the Rufous-collared that Dave photographed in Costa Rica. They are superabundant in our yard in the winter.
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.
Silver-throated Tanager. Photo Taken at Las Cruces Biological Station, Costa Rica (David Zittin 2018)
We ran into our first Silver-throated Tanager by accident when we saw something yellow flitting around in a nearby tree. We were amazed at its beauty. It’s namesake isn’t always apparent, the bright yellow head and the greenish wings with black lines catches the eye long before the silver throat.
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.
Yellow-bill Magpie (David Zittin, Santa Clara County 2019)
You don’t think much about the birds occurring where you live. This species only occurs in a small area of California. Whenever I run into someone who has come a long distance and is excited about seeing the Yellow-billed Magpie, it amazes me because they are just another local bird for me. The same occurs when I go bananas over encountering a Dickcissel in Texas or a Fish Crow in Florida. One man’s rarity is another’s common bird.
Its cousin, the Black-billed Magpie has a much wider distribution over several lower states in the west, Canada, and up into Alaska.
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.
Golden-hooded Tanager (David Zittin, Costa Rica 2018)
I know I have posted this species earlier, but darn, it’s hard to get tired looking at such beauty. A few birds really take the breath from me when I encounter them in the field and this is one of those species.
Some quick sketches I did while Dave was photographing tanagers in Costa Rica.
It’s hard to describe the feeling that a birder has seeing one of these for the first time. They are strikingly beautiful with a color combination that takes the breath away from the viewer.
Speckled Tanager (David Zittin, Costa Rica 2018)
Speckled Tanager (David Zittin, Costa Rica 2018)
Scarlet Macaw Pair 12” x 6” acrylic on wood panel
This is also the first time I’ve tried painting a scarlet macaw! It was amazing to see them in the wild.
Lesson’s Motmot 12” x 6” acrylic on wood panel 2019
My first ever Motmot painting! This was inspired by a sketch I made in Costa Rica trip.
Red-eyed Tree Frog
Costa Rica was not all birds, we did see some frogs. This one in particular is stunningly beautiful. I had a 100-400 mm zoom telephoto lens which was not ideal for this shot. I had to back up against a mud bank while Floy held the leaves back so I could get a clear shot.
I found a sketch of a third honeycreeper, the Shining Honeycreeper which we saw on a hike later in the Costa Rica trip.
Honeycreepers are common in Costa Rica. They are often seen at places where fruit is put out to attract birds.
The Green Honeycreeper male is blue, but the female is green.
The female Green Honeycreeper, unlike the male, is green.
Walking across the Stone Bridge at the La Selva Research Station. I was more or less not paying attention to what was in front of me and you can imagine my surprise when I lifted my head and came eye to eye with an adult Broad-winged Hawk.
This hawk migrates across Costa Rica in large numbers and will flock with other hawks and Turkey Vultures. Some of these migrants will winter in Costa Rica and others keep going to locations further south.
Dave talked about blues which reminded me of a little sketch I did of Red Legged Honeycreepers and a Blue Morpho butterfly. Beautiful striking colors.
quick pen and ink and watercolor sketch by Floy Zittin
