Birds In Our Own Backyard, More or Less

Mergansers and Bufflehead at Flat Rock Dam. Early Proof of Woodcut by Ken Januski.

When we first started birding in Philadelphia many years ago we didn't find that many birds here and instead found our best birds at Pocono Environmental Education Center, about 150-200 miles away I believe. We went to marvelous weekend workshops that included room and board for about $100, though the food was cafeteria style and the lodging was bunk beds with thin mattresses.

But we were too busy enjoying the birds and the trips with knowledgeable leaders to mind the spartan room and board. It was all that we needed to keep us going. The odd thing about this is that we got used to looking for Black-throated Green Warblers, among other birds, 100 feet above us in hemlock ravines. Needless to say we didn't get great views at that height.

About five years later I ran across one or more Black-throated Greens at eye level less than a mile away along the Wissahickon. It was quite a revelation to find these seemingly rare birds, here at home and with great views. If I could summarize our birding since then I'd say that much of it has been about discovering just how many birds can be found within 5 miles of our house.

This transformation began with warblers and other passerines but it eventually included raptors, shorebirds and water birds. With the recent cold winters in the Midwest we've gotten more and more unusual, or somewhat unusual waterbirds, right in our own backyard.

Yesterday we saw our first ever Canvasback at the Manayunk Canal, in a very small spot of open water, along with an American Wigeon, two Gadwall and numerous Mallard and Canada Geese. In my last post I mentioned the birds portrayed above, seen near Flat Rock Dam in the nearby Schuylkill River, two male Common Mergansers, a male Red-breasted Merganser and further back a male and female Bufflehead.

We really do enjoy the birds we see when travelling, and we're lucky to have such a rich birding spot as Cape May, NJ nearby. But I think it's even more satisfying to be seeing all these birds of various types so close to home. It certainly makes for easier travelling.

I expect the woodcut above to be in color, using a second woodblock for the colors. But there's a slim possibility I'll just leave it as a one color, one block woodcut. As usual this proof is on copier paper so it doesn't look like much. But for now it's just to give me an idea as to how to proceed. I'll get to better paper later.

Oriole Riot

I'm not a multimedia type of guy. I'm not wired for all eventualities. I don't carry an electronic laboratory with me when I walk out the door.

But if anything could convince me to change my ways it would be the arrival of orioles in spring. The reason for this is that Baltimore Orioles, and to a lesser extent Orchard Orioles, are truly a multimedia experience. You might think that the wood warblers would be. They are a riot of color. But they don't sing. They don't warble. They have high pitched twitters, with some rare full-throated exceptions.

But the Baltimore Oriole does sing, fully and melodically. Their color really can't be beat for bold, warm striking color. The right antidote to winter. But then you hear their song and you think I've just got to capture this. Orioles aren't complete without their song. I remember a few warbler weekends at Pocono Environmental Education Center that coincided with the arrival of multiple Baltimore Orioles. The entire campus was an Oriole orchestra, richly singing in spring.

For all that though I'm not about to become a Multimedia Type of Guy. Like artists of the past all my emotional reactions to orioles are going to have to be wrapped up and expressed in traditional media.

This was made particularly noticeable to me yesterday when I found this gold and black oriole at Morris Arboretum, singing away high in the sycamores. I was thrown both by its beauty and by the difficulty of identification. The song was what I'd always considered that of a Baltimore Oriole. But the bright yellow of the bird was more that of an immature or female Orchard Oriole. I was thrown. If it was an Orchard why was it singing like a Baltimore. I don't see Orchards all that frequently but I recalled that the immature males had black somewhere on their head. We've seen them many times before at Morris in spring. But where was the black on an immature Orchard? On the head? On the throat? I couldn't remember. Because I had my scope I could see such details as yellow under the black at the top of the head. That threw me even more but also struck me as something I had to get down on paper or canvas.

When I finally got home I got out my field guide and decided that this had to be a female Baltimore Oriole. I also looked at some photos I took. In them the color was more yellow-orange as I'd expect in a female Baltimore Oriole and less golden yellow than it had seemed in the scope. Well at least that explained the mystery of the Baltimore Oriole song.

I include above a field sketch of the singing bird as well as a couple of a calling Eastern Kingbird. And a new attempt at capturing the experience of a Baltimore Oriole in spring, full of color and song.

This is a quick sketch with felt-tip pens based on my field sketch and photos. I did it this way because I wanted boldness. Baltimore Orioles are bold! There is a tradition it seems in bird art of doing sedate, quiet views of birds in pastel-like watercolors, with everything toned down into a pleasant harmony. This makes for harmonious paintings. But it doesn't accurately reflect the experience of a Baltimore Oriole. The ability to express an artists reaction to an experience, bird or otherwise, is I think what will always differentiate it from photography. There is so much room to do more than just capture the appearance of the bird. There is so much room to capture the experience of the bird.

I can't say that this fully does that. But I wanted to give it a try. I think it's a step in the right direction. As regular readers know I've been trying to accurately portray Baltimore Orioles for the last 10 days or so. This is one more attempt. I'm sure that there will be more. While I keep working on this goal my advice is: get out and see your own while they're still around.

Watching Warblers

I think it was probably about 15 years ago at a 'Warbler Weekend' at
Pocono Environmental Education Center that we first saw the video 'Watching Warblers' by Michael Male and Judy Fieth. At that time PEEC's workshops started on Friday night and ended on Sunday afternoon. It was always thrilling to watch the main Friday night presentation, a teaser for what was ahead. These presentations were almost always successful and made you eager to get out early the next morning and see the birds. But one time this video was also played. That was enough to nearly give you a heart attack - just too much excitement! All of the colorful eastern wood warblers on one video, mainly in breeding habitat, and often singing their songs. What more could you ask for? Well outside of seeing the birds themselves I mean.

May is the month of warbler migration in Philadelphia. A few have arrived but nowhere near as many as you'd expect by now. But barring some sort of horrific fallout from the Gulf oil spill, which is always possible, they should be here soon in greater numbers. Just today I saw a couple of Canada, Black and White and Common Yellowthroat warblers. And Ovenbirds were singing away though I didn't see them.

It's generally difficult to even see warblers let alone draw them. This year will be worse than usual because the trees are already fully leafed out. We may easily hear warblers but seeing them will be hard. And yet this is the only chance I'll have to draw them in their breeding plumage. If you can barely see them how in the world can you draw them?

Another birder asked me this very question last week in Cape May as we searched Higbee Beach for warblers. Well I've never been successful at it. But I hope to change that this year. I did at least get the head of a Prairie Warbler last week at Cape May. One problem, outside of being distracted by their beautiful colors and patterns, is that I just don't really grasp their basic shape. I can never figure out how the head fits with the torso, and where the wings fit on the torso.

So this afternoon I played 'Watching Warblers' and sketched as it played. Though I could have stopped the DVD and had an easier time drawing I didn't do so. When I'm out in the field the birds aren't going to stop and pose for me. They're busy hunting for food. So the best way to get ready for drawing them was to just draw as the tape played. You see the results.

I like them, even though they're meant to be an exercise, not finished drawings. I think that they've accomplished that somewhat. We'll see what happens now when the warblers finally arrive.

Even if you have no interest in drawing birds I'd really recommend this DVD. If you have any interest in wood warblers I think you'll enjoy it. And if you have no interest in wood warblers, well you are missing one of the wonders of the natural world. Enjoy them while you can.