Black-crowned Night-Herons 16” x 16” acrylic on wood panel
I love painting Night-Herons - they can seem so sinister. These three are lurking and watching.
California Quail
A common year around bird in Central California. Their distinct gathering call “chee ca go” tells you that this quail species is nearby.
Spotted Towhee
Spotted Towhee 10” x 20” acrylic on wood panel
A Spotted Towhee has been hanging out in our yard under wild grape vines. It was such a treat to watch him foraging.
Townsend's Warbler
We know it is winter on the California Central Coast because this species shows up and keeps us entertained as it frantically hops from one cluster of leaves to the next as it forages for insects. In the summer, it is found throughout British Columbia.
Lesser Goldfinch Trio
Lesser Goldfinch Trio, 8” x 8” acrylic o wood panel
The thistles are turning brown and attracting flocks of lesser goldfinch. This is one of my favorite motifs to paint.
Magnolia Warbler
A beautiful warbler that breeds in Northern Canada and spends its winter from Southern Mexico down to South America. They are very common in Central America during the winter. This photo was taken in Northern Ohio at Magee Marsh in 2018.
Oystercatcher Sketch
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.
Osprey Sketch
In general I work better designing paintings from my field sketches than from his photographs but I was inspired by this photo of an osprey which Dave took and played around with incorporating it into a composition.
Osprey
The Osprey is a sleek fish predator. It is very efficient at catching fish with its long talons. Where they are common it is not unusual to see a few carry fish back to there eating spot. In Florida we saw fish carcasses high in trees where the Ospreys take them to eat.
California Thrasher
California Thrasher 8” x 8” acrylic on wood panel
The poison oak has turned a wonderful red and last month we came across this California Thrasher feeding on the berries.
House Finch
The House Finch is a common backyard bird on the West Coast of the United States. If a seed feeder is filled for at least part of the day in the backyard House Finches will find it. They are noisy as the interact with each other on and around the feeder. In the spring the males can be heard singing from nearby trees.
House Wren
House Wren 6” x 6” acrylic
This was a little color study to suggest hot summer days.
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron 8” x 8” acrylic
I’ve painted a lot of Night-Herons resting but this is the first painting I’ve tried where I'm imagining one hunting.
Lesson's Motmot
A common Central American Motmot and very common in Costa Rica. This species builds its nest in burrows that it excavates on vertical bank faces, usually road cuts or bank cuts caused by streams.
American Bittern
American Bittern 8” x 8” acrylic on wood panel
We were lucky enough to see this bittern out in the open last month and he begged to be painted.
Kingfisher Sketches
Kingfisher sketches
These are a series of studies of Belted Kingfishers done from photographs.
Orange-crowned Warblers
Orange-crowned Warblers
Now that they are quiet it’s hard to find these Orange-crowned Warblers.
Grasshopper Sparrow
A small grassland bird that is more often heard than seen. Its song sounds like the buzz of an insect. They are usually found in tall grasses, where they nest and feed on insects and seeds. This one obliged me by landing close by on a barbwire fence which they sometimes do. Note the very long toenails.
Golden Eagle
Golden Eagle, 8” x 8” acrylic on wood panel
I imagined a Golden Eagle on a high perch surveying his world.
White-bellied Hummingbird
In late 2018 we encountered this Hummingbird at the Willson Botanical Garden in Costa Rica near the Panama border. This species has a limited range and is found in Costa Rica and Panama.