GBBC Day Two - Merlin, Kingfisher, Grackles

Merlin and Belted Kingfisher at Morris Arboretum. Watercolor by Ken Januski

A very overcast day today didn't make for a very inviting day two of the Great Backyard Bird Count. Still it was an opportunity to be out and about. I finally reached my 50th bird of 2013 in Philadelphia when I spotted my first Common Grackles of the year at Andorra Natural Area. Other than that though it was very quiet, almost as though the birds too decided it best to sleep in.

After Andorra I stopped briefly at nearby Morris Arboretum. When I small raptor in the large dead tree in front of where I parked my car I expected the familiar American Kestrel that has been frequenting the area. But it just didn't look right. Finally I realized that it was a Merlin. Species number 51.

It was also very quiet here, though that might have been partially due to the Merlin. It didn't seem to bother the Belted Kingfisher though, who was on the same large tree simultaneously with the falcon. The small 30 minute 5x7 inch watercolor above is based on field sketches and photos from that scene, rearranged to suit my artistic purposes.

Icterids are always a sign of spring. I assumed that I'd see Common Grackles one of these days. Another sign of spring was a singing Red-winged Blackbird at Morris. At one point they'll drown out all the other birds I'd rather hear but that time is still 4-6 weeks away. For now it's nice to hear their song.

And as usual it's nice to be out birding for GBBC. You never know what you'll see. I believe the Merlin is only the second I've ever seen in Philadelphia. I can't complain about seeing him either.

Ending January - Month of Herons

Often the blahs of winter seem to nudge me towards colorful neo-tropical migrants in my art. I remember beginning 2011 with a quick watercolor of an Indigo Bunting. The grays, white and mud browns of winter seem to call out for brighter, warmer colors.

But as this January ends I think it has to be called 'The Month of Herons.' Between the new painting of the two immature Little Blue Herons at Morris Arboretum, the juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron seen at the Manayunk Canal last week and then the comparison of it with the juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron seen at the same place in the summer of 2010 it has been a month of herons.

There have also been a number of sparrows, particularly the dead Song Sparrow killed by a backyard cat. But mainly it has been herons.

So as the month ends it makes sense to show the latest version of the immature Little Blue Herons. It has definitely gotten more realistic. I don't think I've ever painted tree bark before, or even had the desire to. And even though this painting started out in an abstract vein something has pulled me toward realism. So for me it is a surprising painting. But part of the enjoyment of art is being surprised.

I think this is about done. If so I'll include it in a show that opens next Saturday and which I'll mention in next post.

Out in October

We've spent most of the last three beautiful sunny days outside. Morris Arboretum, Carpenter's Woods, Wissahickon Environmental Center at Andorra and Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education are all very local birding spots and we visited them all, often more than once.

I'm never fond of the shortening days of fall. But days like the last three make up for it: blue skies, sun, comfortable weather, the smell of decomposing leaves, leaves starting to turn color, the familiar sound of migrating Blue Jays, but most of all the migrating birds. Most are passing through on their way south. But some are new arrivals from the north that will probably stay here.

So our lists for last few days are full of the former; Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Magnolia, Tennessee, Northern Parula, Black and White and Yellow-rumped Warblers among them. At the same time some of the latter are also appearing, including the handsome Swamp Sparrow portrayed at top, White-throated Sparrows which will probably stay until next May, Field Sparrows, which may have been here all summer. Rusty Indigo Buntings are sparrows that are on their way south as is the White-crowned Sparrow.

The season is turning from one of warblers to one of sparrows. And ducks if we visit water. It's a great time to be out and see this variety of birds.

We saw a few Swamp Sparrows a couple of days ago at Morris Arboretum, the first of the fall. I did a field sketch that just didn't turn out. The watercolor at top is based on a photo I took of one at Higbee Beach in Cape May, NJ about this time last year. They are a truly handsome bird. They're not as bright and bold as warblers but still subtly handsome in their own way.

I'm not thrilled with this watercolor. Though I tried to sketch out some detail for the background it disappeared as I tried to get the color and light to work. But I'm not unhappy with the sparrow. It shows I think that wonderful combination of dark gray, dark brown and chestnut. Catching that was one of my main goals and so I'm happy to have gotten that.

If I'm lucky I'll have a few more weeks of warm weather in which to see and sketch these beauties.

Those Little Blues

Sometimes when I struggle with identifying an unusual bird I like to do some sort of art work that solidifies what I learned about the bird. Often though I get seduced along the way by other factors. In this case I liked the idea of showing a second Little Blue a bit further back. That meant less space for the primary bird and thus not much detail So I never really did much detail on the bill. And the greenish legs, a diagnostic characteristic, get lost a bit in the overall green of the painting.

So it has ended up being a more artistic painting than a scientific one. Still there are elements of both. And sometimes you just need to get started. With this done I wouldn't be surprised if I eventually try a few more of this subject.

Finally I like the idea of commemorating this unusual event for Philadelphia. I'm happy with that. Now I just need to do another, slightly more vibrant painting.

This painting by the way is much more satisfying than the two I did of the White Ibis at Tinicum last month. I think that's because of the effort spent in just identifying the birds. Also I never saw the birds like this. It's a composition of other real life scenes. It's almost always more exciting to try something like that.

Little Blue Seems to Win

Errands brought me into the vicinity of Morris Arboretum this morning so I had to stop and take a look at the mystery heron/egret. I'd pretty much decided it was a Snowy, based mainly on the markings under the eye, the typical poses which seemed more like a Snowy and the relative rarity of Little Blues.

I took numerous photos and did some more sketches. While there I ran into some people who told me a local birder had called them immature Little Blues. I wasn't convinced.

But when I got home I did pull out one more guide to look through. This one, the Stokes, showed a photo much like what I'd seen. And seeing it again it was hard to deny that the legs were one solid color and that was more green than yellow. Also the bill does seem broader and thicker and bends down more than I think is true of the Snowy. Things that leave me with some doubts though: the markings of bill under eye seem more like Snowy, and the poses seemed more like the many Snowies I've seen than like the few Little Blues. Nonetheless I think immature Little Blue is correct.

In spite of many views of the last post I heard nothing from anyone on PA rare bird listserv with their thoughts. Perhaps with these additional photos. AND they have: a number of people have confirmed this as an immature Little Blue. Thanks to you all for your emails.

Above a sketch of an immature Great Blue Heron, which has been at Morris last couple of days.

Another sketch of the Solitary Sandpiper, an Eastern Kingbird and just the start of what I'd guess was a Willow Flycatcher. Also the Little Blue, which didn't sit still for long, and a far-off Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Finally a Green Heron, one of two I saw today, and more sketches of the immature Little Blue, which just wouldn't sit still.

Building Another Watercolor

This is an unfinished watercolor, about 11x15 inches on Arches cold press paper. It's based on fieldsketches, shown below, that I did at Morris Arboretum yesterday. As I was drawing the kildeer through my spotting scope, a number of very young Wood Duck ducklings paddled by behind him. So eventually I also sketched them.

As soon as I saw the ducklings I knew I'd like to combine them with the kildeer in one painting. That's one of the pleasures of sketching in the field I think. You're always seeing something that strikes you. All you need is the courage to try to put it down on canvas.

Of course skill is needed as well. But in some ways I think it's the courage to even try that is more important. I don't want this to be another art-related post but I do just want to point out how different this process is from the one I used as an abstract artist. Finding a subject was hard work. That is not at all the case with working from nature. There's always something there.

I also did a quick pencil sketch yesterday which was my first attempt at combining the ducklings and kildeer.it is below. Obviously I also added some watercolor.

It reminds me of the quick 15 minute watercolors I used to do. Like those it's a good way to try out ideas for a larger more finished work.

I'm not sure how much more work I'll do on the work at top. I'm sure that there will be some, probably trying to unify the colors and values a bit more.

The Blues of Spring

In the past I've written about the yellows of spring. The first flowers we see seem to be yellow. Right now our 'Arnold Promise' Witch Hazel is in bloom and is yellow. It's a cultivar of the native Witch Hazel. Also our Winter Jasmine is in bloom. It's yellow. I'm not sure how much longer it will be before we see the first yellow blooms on our Spicebush. It's one of the pleasures of late winter/early spring to see these yellows and sometimes pale greens.

One of the first posts in my proto-blog, a web site that eventually became this blog, was about the blues of fall. This wasn't so much because blue is a typical color of fall birds. It's not. But I did happen to see a number that day: Black-throated Blue Warber, Blue-Headed Vireo, Great Blue Heron.

But I've never written about the blues of spring. Until today. Yesterday we saw a pair of Eastern Bluebirds at Morris Arboretum. Though bluebirds are often in Philadelphia through the winter these were the first we saw this year. As they were around a nest box we hope that they'll nest there. Our only other first birds of the year yesterday were Brown-headed Cowbirds. You can guess which we were happier to see.

I started a field sketch of the bird at top. But as soon as I did he flew. So I and my wife decided to have our lunch of bread and cheese. As soon as we did the male came back and sat so that he was focused in the scope. But I knew if I put my lunch down and tried to sketch he'd fly. So I kept eating and he kept sitting. Ten minutes later I finished and started to sketch. Whoosh! Gone again.

About 10 minutes later I took some photos nearby of the same birds. One of them eventually became the source of this watercolor.

Unlike my last field sketches of Belted Kingfishers and Painted Turtles I just couldn't convince myself to to a complicated composition here. The birds are just so beautiful in themselves that I decided to keep it simple.

This is watercolor on a tiny 8.5x5 inch Moleskine watercolor sketchbook. Though I love the drawing sketchbook I've never at all liked the watercolor sketchbook. But perhaps I'm just finally learning how to use it. In any case it was all that I had available today and it sufficed.

Appropriately enough Corey over at 10000 Birds had a post on the Eastern Bluebird and John Burroughs' poem celebrating it today.

Drawing is the Foundation

I've just realized that every winter, generally sometime in January, I start doing drawings based on photos I've taken. I think that this is because I feel a need to exercise my drawing skills. They're really not getting exercised much in field sketches because I'm just not getting out much or if I do it's too cold to sketch.

This year I'm sure the desire to do accurate, careful drawings is also related to the simplifiication that I use in my linocuts. So I feel like I get back in balance my sketching.

The watercolor at top is based on some photos I took of Kildeer at Morris Arboretum late this summer or early fall. I did three detailed pencil sketches then added watercolor. At one time this method only inhibited me. I was far too cautious about not getting outside the drawn lines with watercolor. Now I realize that the lines are just a guideline. I notice them but try not to be limited by them.

It's a truism of art that drawing is the foundation of everything else. Well every once in awhile a truism is actually true, at least for me. And I'd have to say that at least 90% of my favorite artists, wildlife or otherwise, are skilled draftsmen. There's just something so satisfying about changing a three-dimensional object into a believable two-dimensional representation. Even during the many years that I was an abstract artist I loved drawing, especially from life.

In some ways I suppose it's like music. At least for many people there's an innate impulse to draw, just as there is one to sing and make music.

In any case that impulse to draw is I think what got me to create this newest watercolor, 11x14 inches on Strathmore 140# watercolor paper.

Another Sora

This sora is strictly virtual though. I went to Morris Arboretum  again yesterday but didn't find the sora. I did find two Solitary Sandpipers and one Kildeer though. When a Solitary approached within two or three feet of me I was shocked to see how small and delicate they are. Since I'd always seen them in scope or binoculars before I didn't have a good sense of scale. But these were so close that I saw them with my naked eye.

As a side note though, they didn't get anywhere as near to me as the mink, which almost walked across my shoes. I'm not positive that it was a mink and  in fact had never even seen one before the animal we saw last week in West Virginia that seemed to be a mink. With this one I had edged close to the shore, but was still hidden by reeds and trees, so that I could sketch the shorebirds. I think I must have hidden myself so well that the mink didn't even know I was there as he scooted by at water's edge.

Back to the Solitary. I did a number of field sketches, none too successful, trying to capture their delicate shape. Also did two kildeer sketches, of varying quality, as well as a Great Blue Heron in an attractively awkward stance and one Northern Flicker.

As I've said many times I really do love improvisation in art. I've been able to use it in pastel but never with watercolor. Watercolor is just so unforgiving that I've always been afraid to try it. Today I finally decided to give it a chance. I also chose larger paper than usual, 12x16 inches. I thought this large size might force me to be a bit looser, and not fiddle too much.

For the composition I used two different photos of Solitary Sandpipers and combined them with the sora, based on my last watercolor. Oddly enough when I sketched the Sora, there actually were a Solitary Sandpiper and a Lesser Yellowlegs right in front of it. But I wasn't interested in them then so I didn't sketch them. In any case this watercolor is an improvisation in composition as well as technique. But it still has its basis in reality.


I don't know if it's done. Since it's my first time with something like this it seemed good to leave it rest at this stage.