A Few More Warblers And Such

Hooded Warbler at Carpenters Woods. Photo by Ken Januski.

I had really planned on not taking any more warbler photos. But when we found a cooperative Hooded Warbler at Carpenters Woods in Philadelphia yesterday I had to try to get some photos, mainly just to document that we'd really seen him. They do breed throughout the rest of Pennsylvania but I believe that this is the first we have seen in the state.

Actually we saw it in three different locations at Carpenters Woods so it's possible that there was more than one. Today we saw what was undoubtedly a different one since it was about 5 miles away at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Oddly enough it was in the open with a Veery, Eastern Bluebird and Ovenbird, a very nice collection of very visible birds.

Though warblers have been visible in extraordinary numbers at Carpenters Woods this week we skipped it to bird SCEE. The main reason for this, outside of avoiding weekend crowds, is that we are covering SCEE next weekend for the Pennsylvania Migratory Bird Count. So we wanted to do some scouting of the area today. We did! 6.5 hours and we still missed much of it.

Blue-winged Warbler at Schuylkill Center. Photo by Ken Januski.

One of the best warblers we did see, outside of the second Hooded Warbler, was the Blue-winged Warbler pictured above. We re getting used to seeing them hidden in the blooms of Crabapple trees. That is the tree pictured above, though most of the blossoms have been cropped out. It is quite a scene though, the bright yellow of the warbler against the brilliant white of the crabapple blossoms.

Ovenbird at Carpenters Woods. Photo by Ken Januski.

One of the most visible warblers of the last few days has been the Ovenbird, an often maddeningly secretive species, though it is also an extremely loud species. I have many Ovenbird photos. But when they stroll so close to you, seemingly oblivious, it is hard to resist one more photo. I normally wouldn't show it but I needed something new to add to the two warbler photos above. And most of the other photos I've taken over last few days have been of warblers portrayed in the last post.

Scarlet Tanager at Schuylkill Center. Photo by Ken Januski.

Finally a non-warbler species: the Scarlet Tanager. How is it possible to miss this brilliant bird, especially given its loud distinctive call? Yet it is in fact a bird that's hard to find. The bird pictured above is the first we've seen this year.

We also saw our first of year Baltimore and Orchard Orioles today at SCEE but I've taken too many Baltimore Oriole photos to be lured into taking any more.

Outside of taking photos for documentation purposes I'll spend the rest of the migration of 2014 doing sketches rather than taking photos. I promise!

Blue-winged Visitor

Blue-winged Warbler in Apple Blossoms. Watercolor by Ken Januski

There was something wrong about the Pine Warbler that Jerene saw just in front of us in an apple along the edge of the Wissahickon. The yellow was mighty bright. AND there was that black line through the eye. Though this was a likely location for Pines there was no doubt that this was our first Blue-winged Warbler of the year.

I did a quick sketch in the Moleskine sketchbook that I always carry in my backpocket. But I also wanted to get a color version. So I brought out my new Gamma 5.5x85 sketchbook from Stillman and Birn and inaugurated it with this sketch. This seemed only fitting after my demonstration of Stillman and Birn sketchbooks yesterday. The demo went very well, as far as I could tell, outside of a minuscule audience. But thanks to you who showed up. I hope you enjoyed it and learned something from it.

I read once of a bird artist doing a second version of field sketches in the studio as soon as he possibly could. Perhaps it was Lars Jonsson but I can't say for sure. In either case it seems like a very good process. Draw the bird as accurately as you can in the field drawing only what you can see. Then elaborate on it on another sheet of paper back in the studio. It solidifies what you've seen but doesn't adulterate your initial impressions.

Speaking of adulteration though this bird was brilliant yellow. Sometimes you just choose the wrong yellow when you go to render something. That's what happened here. And it's pretty sad given that the yellow was the most important part of the bird. Looks like it's time to add a new yellow to my palette!

The rest of the day saw few warblers but many views of Pileated Woodpeckers. I can only guess why this normally shy woodpecker seems so visible now. It's looking for food for young or a female on nest. That's just a guess. Maybe it's just the lack of foliage. In any case it's nice to get so many views of them. It makes up for a 4-5 month drought.

Jewelweed Sentinel

I have another blog, the black sheep in my digital family, in which I try to keep track of what birds feed on Devil's Walkingstick, also known as Hercules' Club. I really can't count this Ruby-throated Hummingbird but he was perched atop a dead walkingstick stalk, about eight feet off the ground. Occasionally he dropped down to feed at the jewelweed right in front of me, getting so close that the hum of his wings was almost loud.
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I've been reading about dragonflies and damselflies this summer and how they patrol and protect territories. I wonder if this hummingbird was doing the same, keeping a high lookout for any interlopers into his jewelweed patch.

I was interested to read today at The National Zoo that young hummingbirds find that this is coming into bloom just when they need it in late summer. I've actually seen it in bloom for awhile now but still he looked like the patch was his and his alone.

I did the watercolor and pastel at top based on the field sketch I did of it today (along with a very bad House Wren, a beautiful Blue-winged Warbler, and an unidentified warbler). I also shot a few photos and decided when I got home to do s quick small watercolor of the hummingbird perched on the Devil's Walkingstick to illustrate a new post It was a good idea but a disaster in practice, turning into a muddy, overworked mess.

Part of the reason for this is that I bought a very small watercolor pad with the intention of using it in the field. I almost never do, instead using it at home when I just want to whip out something small and quick. And it may work for that. But as soon as I add much water to it the paper buckles and the colors run. Instant mud. I normally just abandon it.

I don't normally try  to salvage it by adding another medium. When I started as an abstract artist I loved mixing media. Nothing should get in the way  of the final result. But now I'm much more of a purist. I want my  watercolors to be watercolors and not mixed media

 But today I finally gave in and tried to brighten this  up with pastel.The underlying drawing, based mainly on my field sketches above, was good. I hated to waste it on a muddy watercolor. So out came the pastels. Now it's almost entirely pastel. The watercolor is almost completely covered. But it does look much, much better.

The high point of today was a very close,  but very brief look at the stunning Blue-winged Warbler. I did a sketch from memory above that doesn't begin to do it justice. Later as I sat on a bench in front of Wind Dance Pond at Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education I sketched these Canada Geese, at first in front of me and then on the far side of the pond by the time I was done. One of the beauties of field sketching is that even the most common birds can be fun and rewarding to sketch. That is something that birding itself can lack. For many there's always the tension of needing to find something new, rare or beautiful I'm also that way. But because I sketch almost any  bird can be rewarding and interesting to  see.


And speaking of  dragonflies and damselflies doesn't 'Jewelweed Sentinel' sound like an as yet undiscovered species?