Am I Beautiful, or What?!

Stub-tailed, long-beaked, knob-kneed! Not the phrases that first spring to mind when discussing beauty. But that is a good description of a Green Heron, and he is beautiful!

Of course the maroon and dark green colors of much of the upper bird helps, as does the rich brown streaking on neck. This one was particularly striking due to the bold zigzag pattern on the wings, seen in the second photo. This is the fresh plumage of a first year bird. He'll keep it until next summer. I'm surprised we've never seen this before but we've rarely been so close to one either. I wonder if his seeming tameness also is related to his age. Or perhaps he was a migrant and too hungry to worry about nearby humans.

We saw him on a 4-hour walk at Tinicum(John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge) today on a beautiful, sunny, breezy 80 day. I'd say he was the high point along with a couple of Marsh Wrens, two Great-Crested Flycatchers and one Willow Flycatcher.

I did have my watercolor field box with me but it seemed better today to stick with the pencil sketches above and the photos. i also wanted to share the scope with my wife so that gave me less time to draw, or paint, with it. Still I certainly wish I'd had time to try some watercolor field sketches of this very handsome bird. I expect you will be seeing some watercolors, and maybe pastels, of him in the future. He is just too striking not to be the subject of more developed artwork.

Field Box and Fly-Tying

A number of years ago when I used to fly fish for trout I decided to explore fly-tying, the tying of very small lures meant to imitate insects and other trout food. I'd avoided it for years even though I hated paying for lures tied by someone else. The reason I avoided it is that I have big hands and lures are basically very small trinkets that are sewn together. Me as a small seamstress? It didn't seem likely.

Nonetheless I finally got the hang of it and learned to work 'very small.' I have that same feeling with my new Field Box. It is so small. All in all though it's easier to use than fly-tying materials so today I spent another hour before work sketching Canada and Chinese Geese at Valley Green.

Like yesterday they're nothing to brag about and they probably show me more what I still need to learn than they make me happy with the current results. Still I'm not embarrassed to show them, and that says something because I have posted work that I have been embarrassed about in the past. Or maybe the embarrassment just won't hit me until they're posted and it's too late!! Possibly, but I think not. I do like something about these.

Today is supposed to be very warm, about 90. But it couldn't have been a more beautiful day than it was when I was out sketching these. Must be the end of August.

Carpe Minutiae!?

Father Bede, my cantankerous and very strict Latin teacher from many, many years ago, would be looking disapprovingly at this title I'm sure. But it's been a long time so I've just made a wild guess as to how to modify Carpe Diem(Seize the Day) to Seize the Minutes.

I had to make an early morning delivery to our vets and wanted to try a bit more field sketching on the way home before leaving for work. So I seized 45 minutes at a new location: Militia Hill Hawk Watch at Fort Washington State Park. I figured there wouldn't be any hawks in flight but thought the feeders might be busy. And they were.

So this sketch is my second attempt at using watercolors in the field. The colors are too strong and straight from the pan. I used the tiny brush that comes with my field box and at times it's just too small. But the drawings helped to get me more comfortable with watercolor field sketches. And I couldn't resist the acrobatics of the American Goldfinch. The other birds are a Downy Woodpecker and Mourning Dove.