First Pileated Woodpecker of 2013

First Pileated Woodpecker of 2013. Crayon and watercolor by Ken Januski.

Quite a few years ago we started going for walks on major holidays in the nearby (i.e. one mile away) Wissahickon Valley in Philadelphia. On one of those early walks, probably Christmas but possibly Thanksgiving, we saw a Pileated Woodpecker. Since then every cold weather holiday walk brings the hope of another.

They do nest in this area and 9 of them were found in Philadelphia in the Philadelphia Mid-winter Bird Census of early January. Over the years we've gotten better at finding them, or perhaps and most likely we just bird more. In any case they've become less scarce to us though they're still not an every day or even every month occcurence.

Still we'd seen them regularly at Andorra Natural Area towards the end of 2012. I thought we'd find one there early in 2013 and we could add it to our count of 2013 birds. But no. We didn't find one there or at any of the other nearby locations, including the Wissahickon Valley, where we often find them.

Over the years I've gotten in the habit of keeping a count of the birds I see out on walks so that I can submit them to ebird. At first I used my own abbreviations for species. Then I discovered the codes used by banders in Richard Crossley's recent birding field guide. I didn't bother to memorize them but they often include the first letters of the words of a birds name, for instance PIWA for Pine Warbler. Of course there are overlaps and so not all the abbreviations work like that.

In any case yesterday I was particulary on the lookout for one of the earliest warblers to arrive in Philadelphia, the Pine Warbler, or PIWA. I checked some pine trees in the Wissahickon near the Walnut Lane Golf Course. No such luck. I heard one candidate but decided it was a Dark-eyed Junco. And it was so cold and windy that few birds were making themselves visible.

Then I heard a nearby sound, a combination of squeal and cackle that I associate with Pileated Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers. I assumed it was a Northern Flicker. But then I saw all that black. It was the first Pileated Woodpecker of 2013!

I ended up doing one field sketch. Without a scope though  I needed to put down my binoculars each time I tried to put down some marks on paper. With a scope I can look and draw at the same time. I decided I was just missing too much of the detail of the facial markings. So I then took some photos. I wanted them so that I was clear about the facial markings and how they change as the woodpecker moves his head about.

Above is another Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayon drawing on Stillman and Birn Delta sketchbook paper (9x12 inches). Eventually I added a bit of white gouache. I also did this with two waterbrushes rather than just using my many watercolor brushes. I'm still having a hard time with them. They always seem to shut off the water supply just when I need it. But it seems like it's worth pursuing them just a bit more because they can be convenient when out in the field.

So why did I mention the banding codes? Because I went searching for a FOY PIWA and found a FOY PIWO. There's much argument about the use of these codes, partially because they're hard to decipher for some, not all abbreviations are what you think they are, and the true names of birds are much more pleasant and resonant. Still once you get used to using them for their convenience it's easy to be amused by finding a First Of Year PIleated WOodpecker when you were searching for a First Of Year PIne WArbler. .

Still Sketching

Garden chores, carpentry chores related to our garden, and a lot of birding and field sketching have argued against any developed work during the last week or two. I don't mind this. During winter I long for warmer weather so that I can actually sketch from life. So that's what I like to do at this time of year. And of course there are always the new arrivals to sketch. That adds some excitement. Above is a field sketch of the first Wood Thrush of 2012. Below it is a poor sketch of an Eastern Screech Owl. In these two instances and almost all the others on pages below I didn't have my scope. So the sketches are done by looking at bird in binoculars and then sketching the bird. It's almost three years since I started field sketching seriously. It is a daunting task. The birds are so often gone before you can put pen or pencil to paper. It seems impossible. And yet when I see field sketches by talented artists I can feel the excitement that they must have had as they drew. Sketches from photos, including my own, leave me cold by comparison. There's just nothing like a good field sketch. I imagine this is related to why I've always preferred Rembrandt's sketches to his paintings. There's an electricity in them that is not found elsewhere.

But it has not been an easy road. The excitement is always there but the results don't always seem to indicate much improvement. This is less so with field sketches done with a spotting scope and birds that tend to sit for more than a split second. And I'm very happy with those. With the sketches done in the manner of this page though I sometimes feel disappointed in my progress. That is starting to change though. I've learned that such sketching requires both mental effort and experience. Once you've gotten certain parts of a bird wrong enough times you start drawing it differently even in field sketches. More I think you learn what you don't know. As I've learned all the things I don't know about constructing a bird on paper I've started to pay more and more attention to those aspects when looking at a bird to sketch it. So even a field sketch that is done in less than 10 seconds may include years of experience and knowledge. I'm starting to feel that with the way I draw woodpeckers, thrushes, wrens, even those troublesome warblers. On the page above are some recent attempts at a Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pileated Woodpecker and Gray Catbird. They still leave much to be desired. But finally I feel that it won't be long before my field sketches show a full and convincing sketch of the birds I see. It is an exciting time.

Above some sketches of a Carolina Wren, all of whom seem to be perched in the open and singing at this time of year, a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Hairy Woodpecker. I'm starting to feel at home with Carolina Wrens. Woodpeckers are more complicated but I'm starting to pay attention to the different shapes and sizes of their bills, the shapes of their heads, and the patterns on their face and wings. It's a lot to keep track of and generally I can only notice a few things before the bird has flown. But the knowledge is accumulating. I expect that soon my various woodpeckers will actually look like the species they are meant to portray. There is something tremendously exciting about being able to sketch birds as they appear, and disappear, right in front of you. By the way almost all of the credit for my improvement, outside of my actual practice, can be laid at the great examples of field sketching found at the Wildlife Art thread at birdforum.net.