First Warbler of 2015

Yellow-rumped Warbler. Watercolor Sketch in Stillman and Birn Gamma Sketchbook by Ken Januski.

I don't normally post on two days in succession. In fact I keep telling myself it would be better to post less rather than more. But the arrival of American Wood Warblers causes all sorts of people to make all sorts of exceptions for all sorts of things. It might even be interesting to compare how many people change their work schedules for the arrival of these migrants compared to those who do so for March Madness. Of course most people may just skip work from their desk to keep up with the basketball games.

In any case I noticed today that we saw our first warbler last year on March 26, a beautiful yellow Pine Warbler. We normally see them before Yellow-rumps but never in the same numbers. After mailing off a Piping Plover woodcut which I was happy to find out I'd sold yesterday we decided to spent a brief time on this cold gray day looking for Pine Warblers. What we didn't expect to find were Yellow-rumps. But we did, in two places, along with three first of year Eastern Phoebes and two Hermit Thrush.

So cold and gray as it may be the first signs of migration, outside of the earlier ducks, are finally here. I was never able to sketch any of today's warblers. Most were very high in trees against an overcast sky. Even the photos I took showed next to nothing. So this is based on a photo from a previous spring.

Yellow-rumps are so ubiquitous that they are not the most inspirational of warblers. But they are nonetheless quite beautiful. And I'd have to say that all my previous attempts have been failures to a large extent. The quick pencil and watercolor sketch above is I'm sure my most successful to date. As with many of my quick watercolor and pencil sketches it's done in a Stillman and Birn Gamma sketchbook. These sketchbooks continue to be my favorite for this type of work. It is really hard for me to believe that it is once again warbler season.

The Warblers of May, in Philadelphia, in Watercolor

Northern Parula at Carpenters Woods. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

Ovenbird at Carpenters Woods. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

May passed by in such a flurry of activity that, just like an eventful vacation, it seemed undigested. Like a good meal that was eaten in such a hurry that only afterwards do you actually enjoy it.

Such was the case as I looked through some of my photos from May. Such good looks at Worm-eating, Hooded, Prairie and Northern Parula Warblers as well as Ovenbirds and waterthrushes. Since I spent so much time trying to sketch them it's doubly surprising to see how many good photos I got.

I'd like to recommend the place where I saw them, an Important Bird Area called Carpenters Woods, only a couple of miles from our house. The reason I don't recommend it and don't visit much except in May and perhaps September is that there are so many loose dogs, even though it is illegal to have them in Fairmount Park, of which Carpenters Woods is part, without a leash. By May I'm so angry with anger at the dogs and their owners that I no longer enjoy being there. This battle, between birders and dog owners, is playing out across the U.S. When we first visited Carpenters Woods about 20 years ago we ran into a co-worker. When she saw we were birding she asked if we were familiar with the conflict between dog owners and birders. We weren't and were surprised by the question. Now it's all we think of when we visit.

But if you don't mind dogs running loose, scaring up rare birds, and perhaps ruining their nesting attempts then it's a great place to bird. It's been known for years as such and has, as best I can tell, declined tremendously over the last 10-20 years. But I say this only from hearsay not experience. Though we birded there 20 years ago we were too inexperienced to appreciate what was or wasn't there. This year though it seemed as full of birds as the far better known Magee Marsh of Ohio. I know it wasn't but if it seemed like it then who can complain?

In any case I was surprised to see what nice photos I had of some Northern Parulas, a beautiful bird that we see often but of which I have next to no photos. Nor very usable field sketches. Given the number of good photos I couldn't resist the watercolor sketch above, again in a Stillman and Birn 7x10 Gamma Sketchbook. My intent more than anything else was to get a sense of its striking colors as well as its pose.

Ovenbirds were incredibly visible this spring, both at Carpenters Woods and elsewhere. They are a thoroughly endearing bird, perhaps due to their cuteness, perhaps not. In any case we saw very many and I couldn't resist another watercolor sketch in the Gamma sketchbook. Luckily this year we've continued to see them in Philadelphia through the month of June. So though I've heard second-hand reports of a decline in breeding birds in Philadelphia, reports I've never really investigated, we're happy to report that at least some have stayed for the summer and most likely bred.

Eventually I'll get back to printmaking but for now I feel like trying to improve my skills at watercolor.

Flycatcher Time

Willow Flycatcher in Willow. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski

I'm not sure why but I've been taken with flycatchers for the last five years or more. While most birders are bored to death by the Acadian Flycatchers and Eastern Wood Pewees that seem to be ubiquitous at the nearby Wissahickon from mid-May until sometime in August I always try to see them when I hear them.

Because flycatchers, at least the ones that are normal in this part of the country, can be both similar and drab I like to be able to look at them and try to both see and portray their differences. I really can't say if my motivation is primarily artistic or primarily educational, i.e. learning how to easily differentiate them, especially if they're not singing.

A later arrival than the Acadian and the Pewee is the Willow Flycatcher, pictured above. As far as I can tell it is one of the very latest breeding birds to arrive, at least in northwest Philadelphia. Today I happened to get a good look for a couple of minutes in my scope while birding Morris Arboretum. Two field sketches are below. Unfortunately he flew before I could spend any time on the head.

I did spend a fair amount of time looking at it but never really studied how it fit the rest of the body. So the sketch on left page below is a bit off when it comes to the head. The small watercolor sketch above tries to combine the field sketches with knowledge gained from my many photos of Willow Flycatchers.

Of course none of them were in that exact position. So I spent quite a bit of time drawing the underlying pencil sketch in the hopes of getting a complete rendering based on the field sketches below.

This is another sketch in a Stillman and Birn Gamma sketchbook and I've pushed the paper as far as it will go in terms of holding numerous washes. So this is done. Perhaps another time I'll try another more developed watercolor on actual watercolor paper. Or perhaps I'll end up greatly abstracting this in a print. For now it's just one more attempt to put down on paper the subtle differences between our various eastern flycatchers.

One nice thing about sketching birds from life is that even what many would consider boring birds are always interesting, mainly because you realize how very much more there always is to learn. It is and endless, and rewarding, challenge.

Willow Flycatcher, Carolina Chickadee, Tree Swallow Gray Catbird. Field Sketches by Ken Januski.

Unknown Shorebirds

Solitary Sandpiper with Wood Duck and Ducklings. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

As we got ready to leave the wetlands of Morris Arboretum yesterday I saw a flurry of activity on the mudflats at the other end of the pond. Had a new flock of peeps arrived? We'd seen three Least and one Semi-palmated Sandpipers earlier but there were far more than four in this group.

They surely were shorebirds as they were hunched over in a typical shorebird feeding position. But when I put the scope on them I found one Solitary Sandpiper, the large bird in lower right in watercolor sketch above, and many small birds. Not sandpipers though, Wood Duck ducklings. Then in the far back I noticed Mama Wood Duck. I've put her a bit closer in the version above.

I love coming across these odd juxtapositions. It is one of the pleasures afforded by birding when your interest is more than just checking birds off a list.

As is typical with so many of my watercolor sketches this is done in a Stillman and Birn Gamma sketchbook. It is tough enough to hold a few washes, yet not so expensive or valuable as to make it an inhibiting surface, where you're afraid to put down the first mark for fear of making a mistake and ruining good paper. I've found it perfect for this type of exploratory sketch.

This is based on a couple of photos from yesterday and took about 60 minutes to complete. Any more time or work probably would have ruined the paper and the work.

The Cutest Duck?

Ruddy Duck in Schuylkill River at Flat Rock Dam. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

With temperatures predicted to drop 40 degrees overnight, from 62 to 22, I decided I ought to take one more look on the Schuylkill River to see if any new waterfowl were there. My thought was that they might soon be departing. On the other hand I could be wrong and the cold snap might convince them that they should linger. It can only be worse, with more frozen water, farther north.

Right off I saw a number of Common Mergansers. But rarer birds, like Red-breasted Mergansers or more Red-necked Grebes didn't make an appearance. That was fine though. With the warmer weather of last few days I also knew that I might find some new, smaller migrants.

After walking over a mile along the Manayunk Canal and then back I saw the tiniest shape in the Schuylkill along the shore, right at Flat Rock Dam.

If I didn't know better I'd say Rubber Ducky. It was a Ruddy Duck, seemingly the smallest and cutest duck, though I'm not sure that it's the smallest. Green-winged Teal would have to be in the running but I never see it at my feet as with this duck. So it's hard to judge its size in comparison to the Ruddy Duck. But I believe it's actually smaller.

I did a ball point pen field sketch and then took some photos. At one point two Mallards approached the duck, intimidation on their mind I'm sure. No problem for a diving duck. You just dive and reappear elsewhere. By the time the Ruddy Duck was back up the Mallards had lost interest.

This small watercolor sketch in a Stillman and Birn Gamma sketchbook has more feather detail than I normally do, though it's still done impressionistically. Part of the reason for that is that this duck might be called dull and non-descript by some. It's color variation is subtle. I tried to get some of that in the portrait by putting a little more detail into the feathers.

Soon all the ducks will be gone though I think, except for Mallards and Wood Duck. Then it will be on to truly tiny birds, that sure do not sit still like the recent waterfowl.

More Chipping Sparrows

Chipping Sparrow. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski.

After seeing the Lincoln's Sparrow a week or so ago it's of course tempting to turn every slightly unusual sparrow into something rare. The last few days Jerene and I have seen first winter and non-breeding Chipping Sparrows at Andorra Natural Area and Houston Meadows.

Their big eye ring and other facial markings made us want to turn them into something else. But the small size was right for Chipping Sparrows and they're common at those locations. I took a few photos for confirmation.

As usual the more I look at sparrows the more I'm taken with them. They really do have very complex patterns in their plumage, if you can see them of course. The first thing we remembered about sparrows as we've run into them the last few weeks is how quickly they dip back into cover, a few feet below and beyond what your eyes can see.

I think it's the brief view that pushes me to keep drawing and painting them, sometimes from life and other times from photos. I'd like to really understand their structure.

Today I learned something new about their structure and that of most birds while rereading The Unfeathered Bird  by Katrina van Grouw, who will be speaking the Free Library of Philadelphia on November 7, 2013. For more information check here.

What I learned is that the coverts, which cover the flight feathers, lie at an angle to them. This is somewhat obvious once you know it but it's something I'd never really articulated. So in the watercolor above of one of the recent Chipping Sparrows you can see how the coverts are not parallel to the primaries and secondaries but at an angle. It's the articulation and  explanation of such things that I find so valuable in the book.

In fact it reminds me of why I don't find arts, crafts and computer programming, my old job, too different. All of them require knowing how something works, perhaps the PERL programming language, perhaps watercolor or the glazes of ceramics, perhaps the structure of birds. That knowledge can be a springboard for creativity. That's in fact what it should be though it's easy to see people in all fields who think that rules are to be followed absolutely and never thoughtfully.

When I started in art I couldn't think of anything more stifling than perspective or anatomy. Rules, rules, rules. Who needs them? Who wants them? But if they are not taken as absolute they can be quite helpful to anyone in any field.

Some people of course never want to know how anything works and do just fine without this knowledge. But I realized a long time ago that I'm someone who likes to understand things. I just hope the understanding doesn't inhibit creativity.

And speaking of understanding as in the last watercolor I don't quite understand the background well enough in the watercolor above. It began as a detailed pencil drawing in a 7x10 Stillman and Birn Gamma sketchbook. I've found this sketchbook great for this type of drawing because it allows multiple erasures without the paper degrading.

However I then thought I'd add just a bit of watercolor to the bird, then just a bit of the same to the background. If only I could learn to use a deft and sparing hand with the background. Look for more sparrows to come over the next few months. Most likely I'm going to stick with watercolor for a few more weeks. Then I think it will be time to return to a print or two.

Flycatchers, Dragonflies and Field Sketches

Eastern Wood Pewee with Dragonfly. Watercolor sketch by Ken Januski

For some perverse reason I have a desire to portray flycatchers that is almost as strong as that of my desire to portray the estimable wood warblers. And yet the flycatchers just don't hold a candle in terms of beauty. They are attractive, no doubt at all, but they don't quite excite people the way the warblers do.

My guess, and that's all it is, is that because the flycatchers are hard to differentiate you need to look at them closely. And if you're an artist you need to do so even more. You need to see elements that not only define the species but allow you to put them down on paper. I'm only talking about the few flycatchers that are seen in the east by the way. I might just give up if I had to contend with western flycatchers. It may be that this is a challenge that I find hard to pass up. Learing bird identification and improving my drawing skills at the same time.

I find it exciting each time that they're around, whether the common Acadian Flycatchers which are here all summer each year or the much rarer, at least here, Least Flycatcher.

Fall seems to be the most exciting but also the hardest time for flycatchers. I think that's because there are more migrants around and there are both adults and young. That's a lot to look closely at, particularly if they're not vocalizing.

Above is a common flycatcher of the area, the Eastern Wood Pewee. I saw a couple of them yesterday at Morris Arboretum. The one above was quite near me and I took numerous photos of him as he tried to digest a dragonfly. There were hundreds in flight yesterday during the four hours that I was out. I believe that the one he's captured above is a Common Green Darner.

When you see that number of dragonflies it's easy to see how they are a popular food for some birds. Since I've come to be fascinated by dragonflies recently I'm in no hurry to see them meet their end, to show their part in the 'nature red in tooth and claw' scenario. On the other hand the more you observe nature you do see this aspect to it. Recent researchers have also written on the cooperative aspect that can be found in nature as well but I don't want to digress too far. In any case I'm not bothered as I see the birds devouring the dragonflies. It is part of nature.

The watercolor above is a quick sketch in the 5.5x8.5 Stillman and Birn Gamma sketchbook. It's based on one of many photos I took yesterday. Though it doesn't really show in my photo I'm struck each fall when I see many pewees and see how bright orange their lower mandible is.

Least Flycatcher at Houston Meadows. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski

We used to wake up with the bird above outside our cabin at Shenandoah National Park where we vacationed annually for years. Though the bird checklist mentioned them as uncommon we would see them every year, chebekking away. So it was a great surprise when we stopped going there and also stopped seeing them. The one portayed above, one of two seen at Houston Meadows in Philadelphia today, may be the best look we've ever had at one in Philadelphia.

Often with this type of quick watercolor sketch, also done in the Gamma sketchbook, my goal is to crystalize what I've seen, to combine the knowledge gained from observations, photos and reading into a quick sketch that represents the experience in some way. Sometimes this will also end up being a complete artwork that I'm quite happy with. Other times I'll realize that there are small mistakes or things I'd like to change. But that will have to happen in another more developed work. For now I just want to portray the experience.

Bald Eagle, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Rough-winged Swallow and Least Flycatcher. Field Sketches by Ken Januski.

It's been awhile since I've done many field sketches. I've been a bit more active with them over the last 7-10 days, perhaps because so many migrants are coming through. As with watercolor sketches they're never perfect and on each page I can see one image that I'd just as soon that no one saw. But I like the others and it does represent a day, or two or three, in the field.

Above is a mature Bald Eagle seen yesterday at Morris, a Belted Kingfisher, Northern Rough-winged Swallow and an attempt from memory to draw one of the two Least Flycatchers seen today, done about a half hour after seeing it.

Great Blue Heron, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Green Heron and Belted Kingfisher. Field Sketches by Ken Januski.

Finally some sketches from earlier in week of Great Blue Heron, another poorly drawn Northern Rough-winged Swallow, a Green Heron and another Belted Kingfisher. At one point the last two were in same tree. That may be the source of a more finished work at some point.

My linos are often more involved with art than nature. But they all have their source right here, in the sheer pleasure of being out and enjoying all that the natural world has to offer, as long as some thoughtless legislators don't destroy it. The last refers to some idiotic bills by Pennsylvania Republicans that I won't get into here. ( If you're a PA resident and unfamiliar with the latest antics of the Republican legislature see this coverage of PA HB1576. The older I get the more disgusted I get with politicians of both parties. But the recent activities of PA Republicans are doing wonders for my view of the PA Democrats.)

What is That Duck Looking At?

White-tailed Deer, Green Heron and Wood Duck at Morris Arboretum. Conte Sketch by Ken Januski.

About a week ago I was birding and sketching at the wetlands of Morris Arboretum, hoping to find some of the migrants that I've often found in previous Augusts. I had my scope with me to help with the sketching. At one point I saw a Wood Duck and then noticed a Green Heron next to her. But why was the neck of the duck stretched, gawking at something to the left? Then I noticed the Green Heron was looking that way too.


I couldn't see anything. Later however when I was over on that side of the pond I found a White-tailed Deer, something we see occasionally there but really not that often. I didn't see him until 15-30 minutes after seeing the gawking birds. But he was in a similar direction and various small islands would have blocked an earlier view of him. As soon as I put this all together I also put together an image for potential painting or print.

Above is a 9x12 Conte sketch in Stillman and Birn's Gamma sketchbook. I thought about various media for this study and did a few preliminary pencil sketches. I chose Conte, largely because I've found that it forces me to simplify, to get a better sense of the mass and gesture and not worry about detail. That's pretty much the method I used in the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Conte sketches that were the basis for a lino/woodcut a month or two ago.

So that's sort of my idea here. However I rarely draw or paint deer. This will be something new for me. But I'm in an experimental mood so I may just give this a try as a small linocut and or woodcut.

Keep Sketching, and Painting

Ovenbird at Magee Marsh. Watercolor by Ken Januski.

Great Egret at Morris Arboretum. Watercolor by Ken Januski

With the arrival of football season once again......... I know it's almost June but the weather has been reminiscent of early fall, with a real chill in the air. We started off birding on Friday morning, after dropping off one of our cats at the vet, in low 60 degree weather. As the rain continued the temperature plunged. Soon we were birding, none too successfully, in 49 degree weather.

When we returned from the vet I decided that I wasn't going to bird again until the wind died down and the weather warmed up. As I sat in my studio trying to decide what to do I looked through some photos and once again turned to sketching, again in my Stillman and Birn 5.5x8.5 Gamma sketchbook.

As Bob Kuhn, among many others, has said: you should always keep drawing. I think that's true. One loss I felt when I turned to completely abstract work was that of drawing. Though I still drew it wasn't from anything real. I always missed that. Now that I'm doing it again I remember just how satisfying it is.

At the same time though I'd add 'Keep Painting.' They really are two different methods of portraying the world, though often quite well merged in many successful artists. There's the desire for line and structure that drawing fulfills. And there's the desire for color, shape, texture that paint seems better at.

For some reason at least to me it seems that wildlife art relies more on the linear aspect of art, perhaps because of its desire for verisimilitude. But painting is about paint, whether oil, acrylic or something else. For me watercolor remains a difficult but rewarding medium. So after I'd done these two sketches I decided to continue on in watercolor. Particularly with the ovenbird it became much more a painting than a drawing with watercolor added. To me it's just as important to keep painting as it is to keep sketching. Do both, and eventually, you'll have something to show for it.

I'd much prefer if I could work from life like this, rather than rely on photos. But it is a learning experience, particularly in regard to learning watercolor. I'm sure it will eventually pay off in the field, the next time that ovenbird walks by.

Another Experiment

Northern Waterthrush at Magee Marsh. Watercolor by Ken Januski

As I've experimented with the Stillman and Birn Gamma sketchbooks over the last few days I've learned that it's best to keep to a few simple washes. Otherwise the paper buckles and you can't really even draw or paint a straight line after that. All well and good. But I can't resist going on to do more washes.

In this case I spent at least 30 minutes on a drawing of a Northern Waterthrush seen at Magee Marsh a few years ago. This is based on a photo I took. It may not seem it to many viewers but I'm a stickler for color and color orchestration. As best I can tell that's why I keep reworking these way beyond what the paper tells me I should do.

The paper does hold up though. So at the end, though I may not be able to draw straight lines due to the buckled paper, I can still put one color on top of another until I get something that looks right to me in terms of color and composition.

I think that this use of many layers of wash and color works a bit better on this, and to a certain extent on the Eastern Phoebe and Great Blue Heron, because I'm spending more time on the initial drawing, particularly in the birds themselves. This allows me to be somewhat detailed on them, and then be freer and looser on the background. So in the end there's at least to me a pleasant combination of detail and inexact suggestion.

This will never pass for a finished watercolor. Neither would the Eastern Phoebe, especially if you saw either in person. This is much less so of the work over the last week on the Delta paper. Still I find the paper and the paintings very worthwhile. Already I'm thinking of doing an acrylic painting of the Eastern Phoebe. Tomorrow I'll probably be thinking the same thing about this work.

I do look forward to the arrival of some new Stillman and Birn sketchbooks. I'd like to continue to experiment with more finished work on the heavier paper, especially that of the new Zeta sketchbooks. This has been an unplanned diversion. But one that I think is paying off, and fun to do as well.

Phenology and the Brutish Clan

First of Year Eastern Phoebe - 2013. Watercolor by Ken Januski.

For many years a field that I've really enjoyed, though strictly on an amateur basis, is phenology - the timing of natural events. The pencil and watercolor sketch of our first of 2013 Eastern Phoebe above illustrates this.

It's not just pleasurable to see the first Eastern Phoebe of spring it's also enjoyable and comforting in a way to see that the world still operates in more or less the same manner. There is a continuity and consistency in nature from season to season and year to year. The Eastern Phoebe, outside of members of the blackbird family, will be among the first migrants to arrive in our area each year.

And generally it will be on a cold, gray day, one not very promising of the warmer weather of spring. But once you see a phoebe you know that spring really is on its way. And another change of seasons is evident.

For those who pay attention to nature this is something to be celebrated and enjoyed.

Recently the Wall Street Journal ran an article on phenology. It mentioned all the volunteers that took note of changes in nature, particularly in regard to flower bloom, and recorded this. The article then went on to say that much of this data would be helpful in regard to the study of climate change. It is another form of citizen science, just like ebird and Project Feeder Watch from Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (By the way the link to the WSJ may not work as it may require a subscription to access.)

The gist of the article was primarily scientific. People were interested in nature, in phenology, and perhaps as well in climate change. But it wasn't an a priori part of the study, done solely to prove that human activity is destroying nature.

But you'd never know that to read the comments. I know better than to read comments on the page of any newspaper site. As someone who spent over 25 years in the newspaper industry I find this incredibly sad. The comments almost invariably bring the conversation down to the lowest possible level. It would be an insult to Troglodytes to call most commenters Troglodytes. They don't even reach the level of a society or culture. Finally I decided that what best described them was the 'brutish clan' of the title of this post.

If it were me I'd banish them from all newspaper sites. I assume that they do get some viewers, in fact quite a few if you count the number of comments, but their level of stupidity and hate always makes me give up on them within minutes. Occasionally there will be a thoughtful comment but it's immediately lost in the rabid responses. Who knows how the people who make the thoughtful comments have the patience and stamina to post? I've read newspapers and others who defend the practice of allowing these comments. But I have to disagree.

In any case when I last looked there wasn't a single intelligent comment on the phenology article - just rants on government spending, tree huggers, climate change conspiracies etc. As I said it is a brutish clan.

But that doesn't lessen the value and appeal of it. We are all a part of nature and we're all affected  by it, farmers, people affected by hurricanes and tornadoes, fishermen who look to the bloom of shadbush trees for running of the shad or appearance of trout. If I feel sick from tree allergies I know it's time for my taxes to be filed.

I like the idea of illustrating natural events. So that's why I did the Eastern Phoebe sketch. We also saw a couple of Great Blue Herons at Morris Arboretum yesterday. I'd been reading about people seeing large numbers of them in flight in Pennsylvania this week. They must be migrating and I assume that the two we saw were migrants.

The sketch is based on photos of the Eastern Phoebe as well as sketches of one of the Great Blue Herons. It's done on Stillman and Birn Gamma paper, a lighter weight than that of the Delta sketchbook I've used in last two posts. As I said in recent posts I like all of the S&B sketchbooks for working out ideas. So in this one I tested a composition that combined the phoebe and heron. They never appeared like this in reality.

Since the paper was lighter and the subject, the phoebe, a bit more delicate I decided to use pen and watercolor rather than the Neocolors. When I use them I tend to work and wet the paper more heavily and I think it would have been too much for the Gamma paper. But for what I did it was fine. The paper does warp a bit but I always put a rubber band around the lower edge when I'm done. That and being flattened by the weight of the closed sketchbook once it dries help to flatten it back out.

I've done a number of first of year phoebe drawings and paintings. This is by far the one I'm happiest with.

Days of Rust

One of the things that interests me as an artist is portraying the sensations that I might experience in seeing something, with that 'something' generally being birds. Recently I saw my first Rusty Blackbirds in many years. I think they're not all that uncommon at nearby Tinicum/Heinz NWR but I just don't get there very often.

When I saw two different birds on two different locations on consecutive days recently I was struck by their subtle coloring. In birding trips over the last week I've often seen a common but striking bird that also sports some beautiful browns, the Carolina Wren.

Both are so striking that they plant a seed in my artistic brain that will eventually germinate into a flower, or perhaps a weed as the case may be.

I have never seen them together. But both are likely to be found in swampy woods and that's  in fact  where I found both Rusty Blackbirds. I kept thinking that I could celebrate them by  putting them both in one painting, tied together by a common environment and those browns.

I'm much more familiar with Carolina Wrens than Rusty Blackbirds so the bulk of time in this painting was getting the drawing of the blackbird to seem right to me. It's based on a photo. The wren is based on a drawing of the wren, drawn six hours after seeing him from  memory.

This is a quick watercolor, though the sketch itself took quite a while. It's 7x10 inches on Stillman & Birn Gamma sketchbook paper. I haven't used this paper in awhile but it's always useful for working through an idea. And it seems far less forbidding to me than regular watercolor paper. So I'm more adventurous I think when I use it.

I'm happy with this. It could be more fully debeloped, especially in the surrounding vegetation.But I did manage to include both birds and I particularly like the Rusty Blackbird. It's not a detailed photographic replica of the birds, but far more importantly it's indicative of the excitement I felt when seeing each of the birds.