Preliminary Peregrines - A Six Week Story

Three proofs of new mokuhanga, 'Peregrines at St. Johns Church.' Copyright 2025, Ken Januski

It was about ten years ago or so that I learned that peregrine falcons were nesting quite near to our house, just down the hill towards Manayunk and the Schuylkill River. Oddly we found this out after nearly running over some birders who were taking up the road for themselves, quite oblivious to cars,  at Heislerville WMA near Cape May in New Jersey. We ran into them, figuratively, later and mentioned that we lived in Manayunk. They told us about the nesting peregrines.

    The first time we actually saw them was a year or two later when I was about to walk back up hill to our house, carrying my art work with me, after having exhibited for the first and only time in the Manayunk Arts Festival on Main Street. I'd only gotten a block away when I heard this shrill screeching. Peregrines! Later I learned that they were fledglings awaiting food from their parents.

    They nested at St. John's Church for 10 or more years, with occasional replacement of one of the parents. Unfortunately I didn't visit them during breeding season any where near as much as I should have. At one point the male I believe was found dead possibly the result of a drone strike. I think that there may not have been a nest for a year or two. And then this year a new one with new parents was discovered by the person who has most closely monitored them over the years, Judy S.!

So I went down the hill a couple of times and tried to find them and sketch them through my scope. I also took numerous photos and videos but they were always a bit too distant. Below are many if not all of the field sketches I made during those visits, starting with the first.  As I've said many times there is a thrill to field sketches and the actual process of sketching in the field that is absent from photography, at least for me.

After I'd done these and after a small celebration of local birders for another successful nesting season, with four juveniles(!), I decided to do some sketches for a possible new mokuhanga. Photos of the first compositional sketch as well as one of two preliminary digital sketches are also below.

At the top are the three newest proofs of all eight blocks. There are a few minor changes to make but very soon I will print a new edition. I should add that I haven't suddenly turned 'religious.' The crosses are part of the church. The other structures or fragments of structures are also from the surrounding area, and frequent perches for the six swiftly flying peregrines. I tried to capture all of that!

Sumi brush pen field sketch of local Peregrines. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

Sumi brush pen field sketch of local Peregrines. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

Sumi brush pen field sketch of local Peregrines. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

Sumi brush pen field sketch of local Peregrines. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

Watercolor sketch of local Peregrines from my photos. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

 

Large pencil sketch that tries to capture the experience of seeing so many Peregrines over three long visits. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

Sumi brush pen field sketch of local Peregrines. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

Sumi brush pen field sketch of local Peregrines. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

Sumi brush pen field sketch of local Peregrines. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

Sumi brush pen field sketch of local Peregrines. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

Digital template, using Procreate, of local Peregrines. This is the second one and a bit different than the first. The new print is based on this. Copyright 2025, Ken Januski.

A Peregrine Fledgling

Peregrine Fledgling Straddling Garbage Can and Recycling Bin. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

The woodcut is progressing but I don't want to show every step of the way here. Perhaps I'll show a new stage soon. Yesterday I decided to try to sketch some newly fledged Peregrine Falcons in my scope. Of course I didn't know if they'd be around or if I'd be able to get a good view of them. When I arrived I heard a couple calling but they didn't sit still. Their mother did though so I set up my scope to draw her.

As I did so though I heard some people talking about an injured bird and calling the Game Commission. It turned out to be the Peregrine pictured above. After many phone calls and various plans of action I moved my scope so that I and it were near the bird but hopefully far enough away not to scare it, especially since there was a fair amount of traffic on the street between him and me but also near enough so that traffic might see me and slow down. I was afraid to move closer for fear of scaring it, possibly into an unhappy traffic accident.

About 90 minutes later, with the bird never having moved from this perch on a garbage can lid next to a recycling bin the Game Commission officer arrived. And just as he stepped up to capture him in order to take him to be checked for injuries the bird flew across the street towards me and then off and away. Afterwards the general consensus was that if he could fly that strongly he was fine.

So hopefully we will see him flying around soon enough. During my lengthy stay with him I took numerous photos. I did one sketch as well but gave it up as soon as I realized I couldn't keep my eye on him if I was busy sketching. This morning I did this quick watercolor sketch based on one of the photos.

Highlights of the Natural Year - 2015, Part 1

Ebony Jewelwing. Photo by Ken Januski.

Over the last couple of years I've ended the year on this blog with a post about my best reading of each year. Delacroix's Journal was near the top both years as I recall. Though I'm tempted to do the same year I'm instead going to show some of the highlights of the natural year, experiences in nature that were most memorable.

For whatever reason one of the most striking was a huge hatch of Ebony Jewelwings seen at Morris Arboretum. In one corner of the Arboretum, between the Wissahickon and Paper Mill Run, a tributary of the Wissahickon, every step I took brought up 3-5 new damselflies. They've always been one of my favorites but I generally see just one or two at a time. In this case there were easily 100. The only somewhat comparable experience was a wealth of Autumn Meadowhawks at John Heinz NWR it the fall. But this isn't the first time we've seen many of them in the fall, most notably at Magee Marsh near Toledo, OH, so they weren't quite as striking. Still they do illustrate one of the many wonders of nature: not rarity but almost the opposite, fecundity.

With that introduction to this post made I'll now move on to a more chronological list.

Hundreds of Snow Geese Flying over Morris Arboretum. Photo by Ken Januski.
 

I didn't really intend to continue the fecundity theme but it turns out that one of the earliest natural highlights was the momentary appearance of hundreds of Snow Geese over Morris Arboretum on January 25, 2015. I chose this photo not because it looks like much but because it does give an idea of the numbers. I believe that I counted a total of 225.

Peregrine on Church Steeple. Watercolor by Ken Januski.

As I've written before we don't see many Peregrine Falcons. The most memorable have been at Cape May, NJ and at Forsythe NWR also I NJ. Then we heard that they nested very close to where we live, less than a mile away actually. Since then we've seen them more and more frequently, especially when they are actively feeding the young and when the young are just starting to fly. It is always a great thrill to see and hear the young ones briefly fly high above our backyard. But I was particularly surprised to find this one, perched on the same church steeple where they nest, on the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count, on February 13, 2015. This is a small watercolor I did of it.

Red-breasted and Common Merganser with Bufflehead. Woodcut by Ken Januski

Red-breasted and Common Merganser with Bufflehead. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

Soon after seeing the Peregrine I saw my first ever Red-breasted Merganser at Flat Rock Dam in the nearby Schuylkill River, along with two Common Merganser and two Bufflehead. I did the watercolor sketch soon afterwards and then eventually used it as the basis for the woodcut. Despite my best intentions the woodcut did not turn out as well as I had hoped. But my prints often involve experimenting with something new, moving on rather than consolidating knowledge and skill. So perhaps I bit off more than I should have.

Long-eared Owl. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

Though we've birded quite a bit over the last 20 years we haven't seen that many owls. So when Long-eared Owls were reported at John Heinz NWR in SW Philadelphia and they seemed to stay there for a few days we just had to take a chance and head down to look for them. Though there was only one left and it was buried in a tangle and thus hard to see or photograph I did manage to make this quick watercolor sketch based on some of the photos. As birders often don't seem to recognize the need not to intrude on unusual birds, especially owls, we didn't stick around as long as we might have with some other birds. Still it was a great thrill to see the bird. Recently I received Scott Weidensaul's new book on owls and the photos remind me of the orange face which we only briefly saw. How nice it would have been to be able to see and capture that in paint. Perhaps next time.

We have been fortunate enough to see and hear Great Horned Owls numerous times this year in Philadelphia so our luck with owls seems to be getting better. Though we rarely saw them we used to go to sleep to Barred Owls calling when we regularly vacationed at Lewis Mountain Campgrounds at Shenandoah National Park 10 years or so ago.

Canvasback and Hooded Merganser. Charcoal Drawing by Ken Januski.

Canvasback and Hooded Merganser. Ball Point Pen Field Sketch by Ken Januski.

One of the ducks I've always wanted to see but haven't is the Canvasback. I'm sure I read somewhere of it being called the Aristocrat of Ducks. It's easy to see why with that seemingly noble forehead and beak, not to mention the striking colors, especially in the drake. We saw our first ever at the Manayunk Canal in early spring then saw the drake above at Morris Arboretum where it stuck around for at least two weeks as I recall. And with him were numerous Hooded Mergansers, perhaps the Crown Princes and Princesses of Ducks. When I saw the two drakes together I couldn't resist a large charcoal drawing, shown above as well as a woodcut. The also offered one of the first chances, along with the Long-eared Owl, for field sketches in 2015.

Next it will be time for the first warbler of 2015. That means spring and probably the time for a separate installment of this post.

GBBC 2015 Day One - Peregrine

Peregrine Falcon on St. John's Church Steeple. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

Today began the Great Backyard Bird Count. I think today and the upcoming weekend may be the coldest in recent memory for it, though certainly not the snowiest. I was a bit reluctant to head out with a windchill of 0 or so. This was especially so as I'd seen no birds in flight from my studio window earlier in the morning. Generally at least the European Starlings and Mourning Doves are active by 7:45 a.m.

I'd also had reports that one or two of the nesting pair of Peregrine Falcons had returned to St. John's Church down the hill in Manayunk. On a warmer day I would have swung by the church. But today I decided to stick to the Canal as it paralleled the Schuylkill River, hoping to see water birds. They at least should be out.

I did see a number of Mallards and a couple of female Common Mergansers. I didn't see much else though nearer to Main St. I did see an American Robin and a European Starling squabbling over berries. As I looked up I also saw the church a few blocks away. Might as well scan it I thought. I did see a bird but assumed it was more likely a Rock Pigeon than a Peregrine. From that distance I couldn't tell for sure. But I took one photo just in case.

When I got home I found a handsome Peregrine on the steeple. Above is a pencil sketch with watercolor based on the photo.

I've never been an illustrator. So I've never had to work on deadline with representational art. However I do like the challenge of illustrating these GBBC forays. I always have limited time and I like to try to illustrate each day's sightings, sometimes with more realism than other times. If I work from photos, as I did today, then it looks even more like an illustration. This was done in one hour in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook. My guess is that it will be by far the most realistic sketch I do during the GBBC.

Peregrines, Pretzels, Halloweens and Herons

Young Peregrine Falcon Balancing on Power Tower near Pretzel Park. Ballpoint Sketch by Ken Januski.

For quite a few years Peregrine Falcons have been nesting just a half mile from us in the steeple of St. John the Baptist Church right across from Pretzel Park. We only learned about them two years ago I think and have been extremely remiss in not following them more closely. If you must blame it on the half mile steep uphill climb that must accompany every downhill visit.

The climb can always lessen our motivation. But a close follower of them called us to say that she'd be there last night and so we walked down for a look. As usual I'd prefer to sketch them from life. But I couldn't convince myself to carry down a heavy tripod and scope not knowing if we'd find any peregrines. As is was two of the youngsters arrived though the other two and the parents had not yet arrived by the time we left. I took two quick photos and the ballpoint pen sketch above is based on them. In seeing them one thing that strikes you are the very large feet. When looking at the photo the very long primaries stand out. I intended to accentuate them here but I think I need to do a few more studies and sketches to get them right.

One of them was the youngest bird and as he hopped and flopped high in the towers with busy traffic below your heart dropped every time he seemed to miss his footing. But he did fine. Soon we'll be able to see peregrine acrobatics as the birds occasionally fly over our back yard shrilling calling in advance to alert us.

I still can't believe that we have such birds so close to us, and that we don't pay much more attention to them. I hope to get down next week to sketch them from life.

Three Young Green Herons at Manayunk Canal. Third State of Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

Above is the third state of the proof of the young Green Herons woodcut. I've decided to do one edition in just one color, black. After I finish it I may go back and do an edition with multiple colors. But for now I want to keep the stark and simple contrast that the print has. I expect to make just a few more changes before I print this edition. I do like it. And I especially like the fact that it incorporates a scene that we actually saw, three very young Green Herons.

Halloween Pennant Dragonfly at Houston Meadows. Photo by Ken Januski.

Many people consider Peregrines to be the perfect aerial predator. But others would say the same of dragonflies. I think it's probably true. Dragonflies are constantly active not because they're bored but because they're looking for live prey. And they will eat other dragonflies.

But when you see dragonflies such as the Halloween Pennant above or the Unicorn Clubtail below you don't think of predators, of 'nature bloody in tooth and claw.' Instead you just can't believe the beauty in front of you. I think that's particularly true of Halloween Pennants. What amazing structure, color and markings. (A couple of months later and it's still true that Halloween Pennants are amazing. But as I recently looked through my photos and my dragonfly guides I realized that this is really a Painted Skimmer!!).

Unicorn Clubtail Dragonfly at Morris Arboretum. Photo by Ken Januski.

Though we do get good views of butterflies, dragonflies and other insects with our birding binoculars we finally broke down and bought some Pentax Papilio close focus binoculars which are made especially for viewing things that are very close. They are fairly inexpensive (around $100) and seem to work extremely well for butterflies and dragonflies. Recently I've had to rely on my photos to ID some butterflies and dragonflies. I'll still take photos. But with these binoculars it's possible to see detail in the field, both for identification purposes and for doing field sketches. One of these days my first field sketches will appear here.