Highlights of the Natural Year - 2015, Part 3

Male American Redstart. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

Well it's true that most migrating warblers are gone by early June, and this year they were largely missing in action even in the month of May. But the breeding birds remain and one of the ones most frequently seen is this handsome male American Redstart. Since I posted few if any warblers photos in the last post it seems like a welcome corrective to add one here.

Soon after I posted this on this blog last June I realized that I'd forgotten to include a warbler that also breeds here and can often be seen less than a mile away at the Wissahickon. That is the Louisiana Waterthrush seen below. Oddly we really saw few, and heard even fewer, of them this spring. One of the most predictable signs of spring was gone: the unmistakable song of the Louisiana Waterthrush. I'm still puzzled as to the reason though it may be that we currently bird less frequently at the Wissahickon, where they are most likely to breed, than we used to.

Louisiana Waterthrush and Snake. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

A few youthful experiences with snakes has forever left me I think as not one of their biggest fans. Still it was a nice surprise to run across the Milk Snake below while doing the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education's Breeding Bird Census last spring.

Milk Snake at the Schuylkill Center. Photo by Ken Januski.

June really is the month of breeding birds such as Acadian Flycatcher, Baltimore and Orchard Oriole, Eastern Wood Pewee, Willow Flycatcher among others. As the first of season arrives it is like welcoming an old friend. That is soon followed by watching them build nests, care for young etc.

I think because I've sketched and photographed them so often I actually did few sketches and took few photos this year. But I did do a number of works based on one of our favorite backyard breeding birds, though by the time they get to our yard in mid-June I believe that they are post-breeding birds. They are of course the endlessly fascinating Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Below are two versions of them, both done this summer. One is a watercolor with sumi brush pen. The other is a fairly complex woodcut. In both I was much more interested in portraying the actual experience of hummingbirds than I was in a photographic likeness. That's ususally the case with me but it is particularly so here.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird on Monarda. Watercolor and Sumi Brush Pen Painting by Ken Januski.

Turkey Vulture and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

We are very fortunate in that hummingbirds were in our backyard from mid-June until mid-October. What a treat they are. One other bird that breeds here, particularly at the Manayunk Canal, is the Green Heron. But they are departing much sooner after breeding than they used to. Perhaps this is due to the abnormally cold winters in 2013 and 2014. They may have learned this is not a safe place to be when cold weather rolls in for good. Or perhaps all of the construction/destruction along the Manayunk Canal has just been too much for them. In any case below is a woodcut, one of my favorites, of three young ones that I did from the 2014 brood. One of the things I like about it is that you have to hunt a bit to find all three of them.

Three Young Green Herons at Manayunk Canal. Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Among the many birds and bird families that both Jerene and I are particularly fond of are rails. So when Soras, along with quite a few other interesting birds, seemed to take up residence at Heinz NWR we had to pay at least one visit. Below is another watercolor and sumi brush pen painting of two Soras seen at Heinz.

Soras at Heinz NWR. Watercolor and Sumi Brush Pen Painting by Ken Januski.

It's tempting to add photos of the immature Little Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets at Heinz NWR, as well as two beautiful Tri-colored Herons seen at Heinz on the same day as the Sora and herons but there just isn't room. The beautiful and always welcome Orchard Oriole will also have to miss this summary. That's not to mention numerous dragonflies and butterflies. But there is only so much room and it is almost time for confusing fall warblers, vireos and flycatchers, many of which are migrating in August. Below is another sumi brush pen and watercolor painting of just that experience at Morris Arboretum during the last week of August. As with the Ruby-throated Hummingbird I'm more interested in the experience than in any photographic likeness. One reminds me of actually being outside seeing things; the latter reminds me of being inside looking at photos. Which would you prefer?

Confusing Fall Warblers and Vireos. Watercolor and Sumi Brush Pen Painting by Ken Januski.

Like A Day without Sun

American Redstart. Pencil and Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

...it seems like a Spring without Warblers. I've been out birding a number of times over the last few days, including about three hours today as part of the Breeding Bird Census and the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. And almost all the warblers, and other neo-tropical migrants, are gone. The ones that remain are breeding birds.

The warblers that breed in Philadelphia that spring to mind are in order of  likelihood: Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat, followed by American Redstart and Ovenbird. Perhaps there are others that might be found, a Northern Parula perhaps, but those first four are the most likely ones. And it seems, though I could be wrong that one of them, the Ovenbird is in decline. No one saw or heard any today during the bird census, in an area that should be fairly likely for them.

Of course the thrill of warblers is often the very many that don't breed here, that are moving onto other locales, even if they are only 100-200 miles from here. So in retrospect I'd have to say it's been one of the saddest years for local warblers that I can recall. There were very few warblers, at least in the places I birded.

As a tribute to them and to warblers in general I decided to do a quick watercolor based on a photo I'd taken last year of the handsome American Redstart. I chose this photo because I liked the way it showed the full bird, including the somewhat hefty undercarriage and the slightly curved bill.

I was mentioning to Jerene that though northern migration has ended southern migration could begin again by the end of the month, not warblers but shorebirds and perhaps others. Once you're attuned to nature the spectacle and excitement really is neverending. And of course dragonflies and butterflies are just starting to come into their own.

Milk Snake at SCEE. Photo by Ken Januski.

And of course snakes. No, not really. I'm not a great snake afficinado. But when I saw this unusual one, unusual at least to me, at the Schuylkill Center today I had to take a photo. As far as I recall it's the first Eastern Milk Snake I've ever seen.

97 Ox-eyes

Least Sandpiper, Wood Thrush, Great Egret et al. Field Sketch by Ken Januski.

Even the Least Sandpiper met a violent end when the larger species were in short supply, though its minuscule roast would scarcely make a mouthful, bones and all: in one account ninety-seven of these "ox-eyes" were cut down in a single shot.  

Paraphrased from Arthur Cleveland Bent's Life Histories of North American Shorebirds in Peter Matthiessen's The Shorebirds of North America.

I was starting to reread the Matthiessen/Robert Verity Clem book on shorebirds quoted above when I ran across the quote about the Least Sandpiper. Since I've been seeing this bird recently at Morris Arboretum it seemed a pertinent quote. I also noticed that it is only six inches in length, just a half inch longer than many warblers, which always seem so tiny.

It's hard to imagine shooting such birds, as was common at least until the early 20th century. And it's equally hard to differentiate people who did it for food or income versus those who did it for some perverse notion of sport,  a term that also changes drastically by time, location, culture.

In the two pages from my primary field sketch notebook above is a collection of birds seen recently: the Least Sandpiper at bottom right, along with a Great Egret above, both seen at Morris Arboretum. On the left page a Red-eyed Vireo at top, seen from below, a Wood Thrush and just a wisp of a Great Crested Flycatcher.

They're not my best field sketches ever and each were done in less than a few minutes. But I do like the fact that they represent the variety of birds seen over two days. Of course I saw many more but these were the ones I chose to portray for various reasons. Hopefully this also indicates a change of time, culture and location: birds and other wildlife can be enjoyed, even harvested to make the analogy more fitting, as drawn images or I suppose photos, rather than as dead fodder for either food, economy or just egotistic self-aggrandizement.

They are a celebration of all that is around us and all that is constantly under threat by someone, who hasn't the slightest appreciation of them.

American Redstart. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

I've been meaning to do some more developed work with all the warbler photos and sketches I've accumulated over the last few weeks. I also read about someone using ballpoint pens with wash, so that the pen ink ran in various ways. I used to do this with a Pilot Razor pen I think it was. Recently I bought some new Pilot pens, V5 I think these were. In any case this is the first experiment with it using a recent photo of an American Redstart. One danger of running ink is that you can get an insoluble dark where you don't necessarily want it. So when I went to put orange watercolor where that color is on the tail I actually got a black, due to the running ink.

It's a trade off that working like this requires, and one I'm happy to live with. I've also made this bird a bit chunkier than it really is. And that's another trade off in working with ink. Once it's down it's down. There's no way to repair it, another trade off I'm happy to live with.

Welcome Warblers - 2014

Black-throated Green Warbler at Carpenters Woods. Photo by Ken Januski.

I almost feel like I'm on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh in Ohio in May. So many warblers all over the place that only an iron will can get me to sketch birds and not try to photograph them. The birds were not nearly that numerous nor that close today but they were low and many of them were new.

My iron will went out the window and I ended up taking photos rather than sketching. I need to get back into practice with sketching them. The photo above seemed an appropriate one for anybody who's been waiting to see warblers. The pose has a sense of exuberance similar I think to that of birders when they first see warblers in spring.

All but the final Pine Warbler were birds I saw today. After a day and night of rain warmer temperatures moved in and seemed to bring these warblers, along with thrushes and other migrants. The rain kept the insects low I think and that kept the birds low Most were at eye level.

American Redstart at Kitchens Lane Bridge. Photo by Ken Jauski.

 

For all the American Redstarts I've seen over the years I rarely get a decent photo. This is one of the better ones.

Black and White Warbler along Wissahickon. Photo by Ken Januski.

Outside of Yellow-rumps by far the most common bird today was the Black and White Warbler. I'm sure I saw at least 20. This is one in a somewhat unusual pose.

Black-throated Blue Warbler at Carpenters Woods. Photo by Ken Januski.

We see the Black-throated Blue far more often in fall than spring here so it was nice to get such a good look at two beautiful males today, singing as well, just like the Black-throated Green.

Northern Parula at Carpenters Woods. Photos by Ken Januski.

One of the most beautiful warblers is the Northern Parula. But it also is a bird I rarely get good photos of. Today two of them cooperated by staying nice and low, rarely above eye level.

Yellow-rumped Warbler at Carpenters Woods. Photo by Ken Januski.

The Yellow-rump of course is the warbler that can't get any respect, only because it is so common. But if you can forget about that it is one of the most beautiful warblers, especially in spring.

Pine Warbler at Wissahickon. Photo by Ken Januski.

The Pine Warbler is another one that I rarely get good photos of. This one is from a week ago. But it is such a striking bird that I decided to include it with all of the beautiful warblers from today.

One other warbler that I saw today and heard at least three times was an Ovenbird. I also saw one the other day. But when I bird I'm not fixated on photography. So by the time I thought about taking a photo of him he had strolled away, as they do. That's okay. Next time I'll focus on what he looks like and get back to sketching these very welcome birds.

Other first of year birds today were Veeries and one Wood Thrush. As always its also great to welcome them back.

Working from Murky Photos

I was looking through my sketchbooks yesterday looking for a new subject, most likely for a linocut but possibly for something else. Every time I came across a field sketch of a wood warbler I thought, 'Boy, do they leave a lot to be desired!'

As much as I enjoy doing field sketches, and I really do, I sometimes can be disappointed in their quality. One solution I sometimes try is sketching from photos of the problem bird or species, hoping that I'll learn something in doing so. I'm not sure that this works. If it does it's much more indirect than you might expect. Rather than learning the structure of the bird while wokring from a photo it always seems more likely that I try to copy the patterns of dark and light that I see in the photo. Structure retreats to second place. To me that is what is always so tricky about using photos, and why I generally don't like to do so.

I'd also written recently about the difficulty of knowing what to do when you run into a murky area on a photo of a bird you don't know well. What is the structure beneath the murk? Is an area part of the primary feathers, the rump, the tail? What do you do when an obstruction crosses the middle of the photo? If you know the structure well enough you can either just remove it or paint it without breaking the continuity of the bird. But if you don't know the structure you can end up with a mess. Often I avoid using this type of photo.

So after looking through my sketchbooks yesterday I also looked through some photos. Some of the first I found were of American Redstarts, a beautiful wood warbler. And yet I've never worked from these photos. Why? Because not only were the photos murky the bird itself is murky. The male is a brilliant orange, black and white, with the female replacing the black with brown and the orange with yellow. It's the male that's the problem. When you look at it you mainly see a dark blob with some orange splashes of color. It is very difficult to see the structure of the bird, to even pick out the eye on the black face. So I had murky photos of a murky bird.

No wonder I'd never done any work from these photos. And the photos were taken over numerous times and places. It's just that wood warblers rarely sit still long enough for photos, or particularly for field sketches.

For the first time though I thought I might be familiar enough with the structure of birds and wood warblers in particular to try sketching them, confident that i would know what to do when I reached a murky area in the photo. So that's what you see above. I probably spent two hours or more on these small sketches.

Once I felt that I'd sketched the structure of the birds to the best of my ability I added watercolor. That was another problem. How do you show the structure on a bird that sometimes seems like a black blob? In fact portraying any black bird is difficult. It's easy to have it look flat. It's a far cry from the light breast and clear brown markings of a Song Sparrow. They lend themselves to volume. Black birds lend themselves to flatness.

These are not my best watercolor sketches by far. They're not very fresh looking and they lack detail. But for me anyway they show that it is possible to use murky sources if you have some familiarity with the underlying subject. I doubt I ever would have tried anything from these bad photos if I hadn't spent a lot of time doing field sketches of other birds, especially the elusive wood warblers.

It would be thrilling if this spring was the first time I did some field sketches of wood warblers that I really liked. We'll see. It's still a few months away.

Rainy Day Felt Tips

Recent rain has forced me to stop going out in search of birds and continue playing with my new toys, the Faber-Castell Pitt Artists Pens/Brushes. This isn't a plug for them, though it may seem like it. I just feel like I ought to tell readers what tools I'm using.

In any case today's work, a couple of 30-minute experiments, includes the first and last version of an American Redstart and a Black-bellied Plover

Redstart on Nest, Continued, And Questioned

I think that this watercolor of the male(see caveat below) American Redstart on nest is done. I've gotten to the point where I'm starting to be finicky and that's the time to stop, at least for awhile. I've added some richness of color but I may have made it a little more monotone in the process. So time to let it incubate.

Speaking of incubation I mentioned that it seemed odd to see a male bird on nest. But in my experience that's not really all that true. We've had two interesting experiences where a couple alternated on the nest. More interestingly each bird made a special whistle or call as it came in to switch places with its mate. In one case the birds were Blue-Headed Vireos in Shenandoah National Park. The other birds were Baltimore Orioles at our rented garden at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Though we couldn't actually see in the nest of the vireos we later found the vireo nest destroyed and we found them building a new one nearby. Whether that means that they actually lost the eggs and had to start anew or whether just the nest was started and no eggs had been laid yet I don't know. But it seems unlikely that there would be any need to switch places if they were just building the nest.

In the case of the orioles it's possible that they were just trading off food gathering duties and not incubation duties. A Baltimore Oriole nest is a bit like a hanging sock, with the birds deep in towards the bottom. So unless you're right on top of it, which is unlikely unless you're in the tree, you really can't see what goes on. The couple could have been incubating the eggs or they could have been feeding the nestlings.

In either case it was a treat to be able to watch this, particularly the vocalizations that accompanied the behavior. I just did a quick online search and found this article on Blue-Headed Vireos sharing parental duties throughout the breeding cycle. So this is fairly common behavior with Blue-Headed Vireos. Further searching indicated that it is very unusual for this to occur in American wood warblers There is one documented study of a male Redstart
brooding nestlings. Given this it seems unlikely that this really was a male. Nonetheless it's hard to see how the photo upon which this painting was based does not show a male.

I guess this just goes to reinforce the notion that good field notes can be very valuable when birding. In January I took part in the Philadelphia Mid-Winter Bird Census and saw an unusual sparrow amidst the White-throated and Song Sparrows. Fortunately I DIDN'T have my camera. Instead I had a notebook where I quickly noted down the buff-orange malars, wash on chest, fine streaking and gray nape. These detailed notes confirmed for me that it was a Lincoln's Sparrow. If I'd reached for my camera instead I probably would have ended up with only an indistinct blur instead. I might never have known that I'd just seen what is a fairly rare bird for Philadelphia in winter.

So today I might try to sketch the Redstart as well as photograph it, making sure to add pertinent id notes as I did so. If nothing else I'd be sure to note the sex!

Blizzard, Sausage, American Redstart

Like much of the Northeast we've been warned that we might have our first real snow of the winter. Actually it's not all that uncommon to get big snows in early March here in Philadelphia.

While waiting for it I decided to venture forth in watercolor once again, this time based on a photo I took of an American Redstart on nest in a Witch Hazel on Pocosin Fire Road in Shenandoah National Park. Anyone who knows redstarts will notice something odd. This looks like a male. This photo is old so I don't remember the details now. But I really can't find a way to turn it into a female. There is the yellow-orange on sides of tail but I believe male has that as well. And the upper body just seems too dark to possibly be attributed to shadows. So I think we have a male on nest.



OK, you might ask, but what about the sausage? Well I've decided to include five photos that show the work in progress. It also is not done but I've lost all natural light here so I'm stopping for today. Some of these versions aren't exactly attractive or very hopeful. It's the equivalent of watching sausage being made. Still I think some people, especially artists, might find it interesting. There are points here where it almost looks hopeless. But I think things did get better.



As anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I'd prefer not to work from photos. But there hasn't been much activity at our feeders and the weather isn't great for venturing outside to work. So I'm going through old photos looking for sujbect matter. This is very limiting, and often not too inspiring. On the other hand art is where you find it and sometimes you just have to make the best of what's available.

This is the last wersion for today. I'm not sure when I'll get back to it. But in this case I know that it's not done as it is. There's just no richness of color, and not much of tone. I hope that will appear in the next version.