White Ibis Drops In

No sooner had I written about migrant birds being gone and the residents now having their neighborhoods back for their own personal use than a southern bird, the White Ibis, was reported at Tinicum, a.k.a. John Heinz NWR. Since it was a beautiful day yseterday, though a bit hot in full sun, I decided to take the 15-mile drive and try to find and sketch it.

I don't know if I've ever experienced a more easily found life bird. And during the 60-90 minutes I sketched it the young bird never moved more than 25 feet. Above is one of the better field sketches I tried.

The watercolor at top is based on a photo I took, coupled with my memory of the bird. When you spend 60 minutes sketching you do tend to develop solid visual memories. One of those memories is the beautiful streaking on the neck, a combination of ochres, browns and whites, much like a shorebird. Unfortunately many of the photos showed the bird in shadow, so they don't really show the subtle coloring on the neck.

This streaking by the way, along with other clues, indicate that this is a juvenile bird. Breeding adults are bright white. Since I'd never seen one before I was looking for a white bird. But once you've seen the curved bill of an ibis it's easy to spot one regardless of color.

Above are my first sketches. I think they got better as I got more familiar with the birds. Another birder told me that this bird was a post-breeding wanderer. When I checked my guidebooks when I got home they also mentioned that White Ibis are known for this. So this bird is not a northern migrant heading back south. Instead he's more like a youthful explorer. You know youth!

So it seems aside from him the breeding birds still have their neightborhood to themselves right? Well not quite. I also saw at least 65 Least Sandpipers at Tinicum. Another birder, who leads walks there, told me that these were males heading back south. I've read about how early fall migration begins. But this is the first time I've ever personally been hit over the head with it. But I can't complain. A lump on the head is well worth the price to see so many beautiful birds, especially when you know their story and their lengthy migration. It just makes the natural world seem all the more amazing.

I took photos but had no time to sketch. Hopefully I'll soon get back out to sketch or will try a painting based on the new photos as well as some from Ottawa NWR in May when they were heading north.

Writers Unblock

I'm sure everyone has heard of writers block, where an author just can't get started writing. The same thing happens with artists. You just can't get started drawing, painting, sculpting.

But what do you call it when you can't stop drawing and painting? Ever since I picked up the Faber-Castell 'Pitt Artist Pen-Brushes' about a week ago I can't stop. Drawings keep pouring out. I think part of this is that I really can't work long on them. They are small, 6x9 inches, and they won't take that much work without becoming just dark blobs. The other thing I think is that I find myself very comfortable with them, even though I've already run into some of their limitations. Oddly enough I hated these when I first bought them 3-4 years ago. The point of the marker was just too broad for my comfort. Who knows why I like them now?

But that is the nature of life I think. Our tastes change. We'd all be happier if we admitted it instead of thinking that we needed to hold the same view on something throughout our life.

In any case above are two Least Sandpipers and three Glossy Ibises, one with two Canada Geese dominating the picture. All were seen on our trip to the Cape May, NJ area a couple of weeks ago.