Lone Palm Warbler

I spent three hours walking along the Wissahickon on Thursday. I had no intention of doing this. I was supposed to be inside working on a new painting. But sometimes it seems as if I'm forcing a new painting when I'm really not sure what I want to do. In that case it's often better to just drop it and go for a walk. Given that spring migrants are starting to arrive it wasn't hard to convince myself to do so.

It started off sunny but became overcast almost instantly and stayed that way. Unlike a week ago, where the woods was filled with the sounds and sights of birds, it couldn't have been quieter. When I finally got down to the water I found some small birds high in the hemlocks and sycamores. Unfortunately they had all their color washed out by the overcast sky. Among the birds I did find were: one Brown Creeper, one Golden-Crowned Kinglet, one American Goldfinch and some unidentified warblers. The gray sky, and lack of calls, left me no choice but to leave them unidentified.

From there I walked about a mile along the Wissahickon before doubling back on the other side of the water. Typical birds like Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers, White-Breasted Nuthatches, et al., eventually totaled another 10 species.

When I got back to where I'd first seen the unidentified warblers one lone Palm Warbler, my first for 2008, made an appearance. He was still high in the sycamores and hemlocks, but his rich burnt siena color shone through the gray, and his constantly twitching tale, confirmed his identity. While moving closer to get a better view of him I flushed a Hermit Thrush out of some rhododendrons for the second time in the past couple of weeks. I've noticed that the Hermit Thrush doesn't have a twitching tail so much as one that seems to be operated like a hydraulic lift. It seems to land, slowly raise its tail up horizontally and then slowly lower it back down, as though it's being controlled hydraulically. One of the reasons that birding remains so rewarding is that there's always something new like this to notice.

The drawing at top is a small pen and watercolor sketch of a palm warbler based on a photo I took about this time two years ago at the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge. The one big difference is that bright sunshine accentuated the rich golden and burnt siena colors of the Palm Warbler. Though they're not all that uncommon they remain one of my favorite warblers, I think because of both their early appearance and their striking colors.

The Abandoned Painting

Though it was nice to be out I still had an abandoned painting to deal with when I got back home. Finally I decided to try some pen and ink sketches from some photos of a very cooperative Blackburnian Warbler that landed a few feet in front of my wife and myself last May. Working in pen and ink is a bit unforgiving. Unlike pencil or charcoal you can't erase your mistakes. This either gives an unbearably stiff quality to them, primarily from people who know all too well that you can't erase any marks that you put down, or alternatively can give them both greater sureness of touch and greater vitality. For some reason that seemed the best way to work my way towards a new painting. I guess it's sort of like thinking out loud, though in this case it's drawing out loud.

In doing 'bird' or 'wildlife' art my intent is both to be true to the subject matter and to make a work of art. As many people will tell you once you start talking about making 'art' you've made the task more complicated, not necessarily better just more complicated. I'm not going to go into great depth about this except to say that it can give some self-consciousness to the process that can be stifling. In my case for just this one new painting that included questions like: if I do a watercolor based on one the my recent photos of birds will they be too subject to the cropping/framing that often takes place in photos; do I really want to flatten out the space the way that some framing can do; do my photos have enough detail that I can adequately represent all parts of the bird; if some parts are in shadow do I know enough about the structure of birds to construct it from my imagination; am I making the painting too limited by sticking to what is in the photo; can I improvise elements that aren't in the photo; do i just want to do a vignette of a bird where it floats in empty space.

Well obviously this is enough to put anyone to sleep, including the artist! For whatever reason I finally decided to start a new large watercolor based on photos of the same Canada Warbler in more or less the same position taken over a 1-2 minute period. This is something of a multi-vignette and I have no idea how I'll tie all the separate subjects together. I've never tried anything like this before.

This is the initial pen and ink sketch. Tomorrow I start adding watercolor.

First warbler of 2008!

I heard at least one of them as soon as I stepped off of the sidewalk along the Walnut Lane Golf Course and into the woods of the Wissahickon. The problem was that I hadn't heard these trills in 9 months or so. Was it a Pine Warbler or a Chipping Sparrow? The nearby White Pines suggested Pine Warbler but the golf course also has a number of Chipping Sparrows around April each year. As I walked along the trail down to Forbidden Drive I heard the call again. I was about to give up on finding it and just continue down to the Wissahickon at Forbidden Drive, where migrants are often more plentiful. But then there was a particularly insistent call. So I stayed. And finally was rewarded with a view of my first warbler of 2008, a pine warbler!

I think most birders who live in areas where there are four seasons will tell you how exciting it is to see the first warbler of the year. There are of course many other migrants which tell their own story about the seasons. But the warblers are among the first of the neotropical migrants, many of which stick around for less than a month before heading further north to breed. They indicate both the beginning of spring and the beginning of another all too short season of spring migration. But like the Bloodroots which are just starting to bloom in our small woodland garden, they are somewhat ephemeral. You need to enjoy them while they're here because they won't be here for long

I also saw an Eastern Phoebe, in more or less the same spot where I saw my first one of 2008 a few days ago. Other birds include 10+ Common Grackles, 13 Canada Geese, far more than I normally see in this area of the Wissahickon, Reb-bellied Woodpeckers, many Robins, White-Breasted Nuthatches, Mourning Doves, Cardinals, Juncos, Carolina Chickadees, Song Sparrows and American Crows among others.

Why I Love Sketching From Life

I did this small drawing of Canada Geese in the Wissahickon while on this walk. It was drawn in 30-60 seconds and I added a bit of watercolor when I got back home. It's nothing exceptional, to say the least, but it does remind me of the excitement of working from life. There is something about sketches that often seem to capture the dynamism of life. Though the best art is often considered to be that which is most developed I often find myself admiring the sketches of some artists more than their finished work. Rembrandt springs instantly to mind. I also have great admiration for the sketches of Richard Diebenkorn and Elmer Bischoff though I also love their paintings. Perhaps because their paintings also have much of the spontaneity of their drawings there doesn't seem to be such a dichotomy. This also reminds me of how much I enjoy looking at the sketches in 'Drawing Birds' by John Busby and how much more fulfilling I find them than much more finished and polished 'wildlife art.' They capture both the vitalty of the subject and something of the airy quality of being outdoors. Perhaps in another time, where I spent more time outside I would find this less valuable. But today there is something especially appealing and rewarding about art that exudes both vitality and a sense of the light and atmosphere of the outdoors.

Turning Hermit Thrush into Fox Sparrow

I took a short walk at the Wissahickon today hoping to see some migrants. Last Saturday my wife and I had seen our first Hermit Thrush of the spring, his head popping out of some rhododendrons, before he headed to his more usual location on the ground or on bare branches close to the ground. In the same area we had also seen a winter wren and what most likely were 1-2 Black-Capped Chickadees. Though Carolina Chickadees are far more common here I don't have much doubt that at least one of these was a Black-Capped.

Today at the same location I found none of these birds remaining. There were a number of Carolina Chickadees but no Black-Cappeds. Then I saw what must be a Hermit Thrush. It was facing away from me but I noticed some strong dark streaking along his flanks. But that didn't seem consistent with a Hermit Thrush. My next thought was a Wood Thrush but this seemed impossible. It was a month too early for Wood Thrushes. Finally I noticed how really thick the streaking was and also the gray on the head. It was a Fox Sparrow, the first of 2008! I assume if I'd looked long enough I would have seen a non-thrush like bill.

A bit later I came upon my first Eastern Phoebe of 2008. My wife had thought she'd seen one near same location this weekend but it had flown off before we could confirm it.

Outside of the expected birds, e.g. Titmice and White-Breasted Nuthatches, the only other surprise was a large high-flying bird. This turned out to be a Great Blue Heron. He seemed to be heading North along the Wissahickon. Normally we see them in the water if we see them at all at the Wissahickon so it was a surprise to see him so high. But they present a different picture when in flight high in the air than they do on the ground. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to pick up my sketch pad and try to get the elegant shape down on paper. Maybe next time.

Watercolor experiments

I continue to experiment with watercolor, today with a quick, small painting based on a photograph of a Cooper's Hawk that appeared in our Philadelphia backyard about a month ago.

Today's experiment confirmed a couple lessons about watercolor. First, at least when working realistically, it pays to do a drawing first, to give some structure to the very fluid medium of watercolor. And second, watercolor is very dissimilar to oil/acrylic painting. Once the pristine paper has been touched it can't be brought back. In that sense it's more like wood or stone sculpture than like oil painting. It's unforgiving and once the pristine paper is gone it's gone, just as in carving wood. I learned that today when just one or two small strokes killed the painting. I had to use a palette knife to scrape back to some white surface.

So why bother with it if it's so temperamental? I think for the same reason that many artists have: it is challenging; it can achieve beautiful results; it's great at emulating light and atmosphere. I took a course in Oriental Brush Painting about 30 years ago at City College of San Francisco. It took weeks of practice to even begin to set down realistic looking bamboo on paper. But there was something thrilling both in learning how to do so and in the end result. To a certain extent each stroke has to be perfect. Watercolor isn't quite that demanding, but it is similar, and similarly rewarding.

This is my first drawing or painting of a hawk. I only mention that because the power of a hawk makes it much easier to take a rougher, more masculine approach to it. But I chose not to. Many of the hawks around our backyard seem to arrive on windy days and their feathers are always blowing in the wind. This gives them a delicate appearance, though this is often obviated by the claws and perhaps a song bird underneath them. There is also the delicate feather markings. So I attempted that type of approach here. I'm not thrilled with the results but it is a start.....And it seems true to both the bird and the medium.

Flying Hiccup

I once thought it should be described as a "ping pong ball with wings." But today as I tried to do some quick sketches of it from the kitchen as it flitted around our Swiss Stone Pine and the suet on the clothes line pole I realized that "ppbww" was not quite right. The Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, which has been hanging around our backyard for much of the last three weeks, is just too active to have a name that doesn't include some sense of its hyperactivity. As I tried to sketch it I realized it was like a "flying hiccup."

Though its body can seem to have the perfect roundness of a ping pong ball it's just too active to be accurately portrayed as something as stable as a perfect sphere. Instead it looks like it has incurable hiccups. Every time I put pen to paper it hiccupped again. I include some of my attempts to portray him between hiccups.

When it comes to the impression that birds make on humans Pete Dunne seems to have some of the richest interpretations, especially in "Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion." So now that I've committed myself to "flying hiccup" let's see what Pete has to say.

He refers to it as a "tiny, compact, hyperactive, and undistinguished bird..." Hmm. I guess he doesn't like it -- undistinguished! Oh well, not as much color in his description as I'd hoped for. Nonetheless he does note its hyperactivity.

As I've mentioned elsewhere I'm sure this blog will show an underlying bias against doing artwork based on photos rather than from life, even in my own work. I think my experience with the Ruby-Crowned Kinglet shows why. Though I've taken some photos of this kinglet and could use them as the basis of a drawing or watercolor he would be perfectly still in the photo and most likely in the art. His hyperactivity is lost once the camera snaps its momentary glimpse. In drawing from life however there is much more of an attempt to capture the hyperactivity. The drawings here don't do a very good job of that but I think they at least explain why I find it to be the preferred method.

Since I do most of my paintings based on photos all I can say by way of excuse is that I hope I'm familiar enough with the birds in the photos I've taken that some memory of what they are like when experienced live still comes through in my artwork.

The initial posts in this log were edited copies of an old web site where I kept some art and birding notes. This begins the first of the live posts.

Easter Warblers at the Wissahickon

(Last of old posts from my Birding and Drawing Notes website.)

April 8, 2007. It didn't really seem like the best weather for birding, 40 degrees when we began and winds at 10-20. But my wife and I like to take a bird walk on most holidays, generally somewhere along the Wissahickon, so we decided to head out, though with very low expectations.

Our first 30 minutes showed almost no birds, just a cold, wintry sky. But when we got down to Forbidden Drive along the Wissahickon we saw more pine warblers than we've ever seen in one place at once. There were at least 12-15 of them. Most were not more than 6-10 feet off the ground. Normally when we do see a large number they are high up in pines.

At that height, and often against an overcast gray sky, it would be hard to even know that they are pine warblers if it weren't for their fairly distinctive song. But these were on the sand, on rocks, on low shrubs at eye-level. They ranged in color from nearly gray to the brightest yellow. And most were singing so it was a great opportunity to match bird and song.

As we adjusted to them we also found at least two palm warblers, at least one yellow-rump, two or more golden-crowned kinglets, and two ruby-crowned kinglet. All were in the same area near the water. They were all our first sightings of that particular species for 2007, outside of the kinglets.

We also saw two phoebes, first of 2007, along with a couple of wood ducks, many robins, two downies and some other more usual birds.
It maybe a cliche to say this, but you just never know what you might see when out birding, even on the most uninviting days.

Early December Birds in Backyard and at Manayunk Canal

(Next to last old post from my Birding and Drawing Notes website.)

Sunday,12.03.06 -- The normal early winter birds have been in backyard and at Manayunk Canal in a short walk we took there today. Downy woodpeckers at both places as well as many Carolina wrens. Only one or two here but at least two or three at the canal. We still haven't had a hard freeze but one is predicted this week.

Once we get one we should start seeing Sharpies in the backyard and maybe some surprises.

Blue-Headed Vireos Still Around

(Another old post from my Birding and Drawing Notes website.)

Sunday,11.05.06, and the chance for another walk at the Wissahickon. It's hard to believe that you're in the middle of a city as large as Philadelphia once you start walking along the Wissahickon.

We had no luck sighting an osprey, which we'd seen in our last two visits over the previous three weeks. Today's big surprise was at least two Blue-Headed Vireos. Though they are always one of the earliest spring migrants neither of us had seen them so late before in fall. Is this just us or are they really later this year? Until I run into someone who knows more than I about the timing of Wissahickon migrants I can only say: ask me about this next year.

Once again kinglets were all over the place. And once again I have no sketches to show for it...........

Another, or Same, Osprey at Wissahickon

(Another post moved from Birding and Art Notes website.)

On Sunday,10.29.06, my wife and I decided to try our birding luck at the Wissahickon once again. Two weeks previously we'd seen an osprey there, the first she had seen there and only the second I'd ever seen. Though we had heard vague rumors of ospreys being seen there we'd never seen any. My only previous sighting was the day after the 2004 presidential election, when I was out trying to walk the results off. I was at Kitchen's Lane bridge when I heard a commotion to my right and saw an osprey rise up out of the water with a fish in his talons, fly over the bridge and then course up the Wissahickon. I've since read on the Friends of the Wissahickon web page that ospreys are sometimes seen there during fall migration but it sure was a shock at the time.

In any case we hadn't walked far before we found another one. I suppose it's also possible that it was the one from two weeks previous and he'd just been hanging out. The location was more or less the same but I really don't know if it was the same one or not. And he didn't stick around long enough to do much in the way of sketches. The one on this page are from this sighting.

Other than the osprey there were no great surprises. But kinglets were all over once again, mainly Ruby-Crowned but also some Golden-Crowned. Two weeks ago I wished that I'd been able to sketch them and that's true again. They are just such flitty things that they don't sit still for long. But that is part of the challenge. One of these days, hopefully before snow, I'll give it a try............

The Big, the Small and the Blue of it at Wissahickon

(Another post copied from Birding and Drawing notes website.) There are about five pages to transfer. Once that occurs I'll only include new posts here.

On Sunday,10.15.06, my wife and I decided to take a short walk at the Wissahickon near Monastery Ave. It had been cool for last couple of days so we thought we might see a few migrants. That we did. In fact we saw far more than we ever would have expected, including what are probably both the biggest and smallest birds that you're likely to see at the Wissahickon.

The biggest surprise was an osprey. We first saw him in a tree about 30' high on the other side of Wissahickon creek. We only walked about 1/2 mile down Forbidden Drive in our walk but we must have seen him at least 3 times, each time down another few hundred yards or so. We'd never noticed his full-throated whistle before. It seemed so different than most raptors, but it did alert us that he was around. Though I had heard rumors of ospreys at the Wissahickon and though we'd seen them in flight at nearby Militia Hill and Morris Arboretum wetlands this was only the second one we'd seen here. The first was a brief look as he flew off with a fish in his talons two years ago. All in all this may have been the closest look we've ever had at this handsome raptor.

I'd guess the osprey is the largest bird that is likely to be seen at the Wissahickon. But barring a possible (?) Bald Eagle we also saw all the other candidates for largest bird of the Wissahickon on Sunday: a few Red-Tailed hawks, a Great Blue Heron whose pearly, gray back was almost indistinguishable from the log at whose base he hunched, and two, yes TWO, pileated woodpeckers.

I've only seen two pileateds at same time one other time at Wissahickon. That was 4-6 years ago when I spotted one in binoculars but also heard another calling. By following the gaze of the first one I was able to spot the second one a few hundred yards away. But this time they were more cooperative, often ending up in the same tree only yards away from Forbidden Drive. From what we could see they were either both females or immatures. We never could see any of the red near the throat of the male. But sometimes it is hard to see. In either case it was a real treat to watch them for 15 minutes or more, both on trees and in flight. There is always something slightly primordial about a pileated in flight, especially a close pileated in flight.

That takes care of the largest and you can probably guess the smallest: kinglets. We must have seen 5-10 of each species some extremely close and fearless. At one point I stretched out my hand to see if one of the Ruby-Crowneds would jump the additional foot from the nearby branch to land on the coffee cup I carried. The answer is no. I didn't expect so but he was so close I did wonder. Kinglets are always a treat to see, except for those moments when you're searching for some rare warbler, only to find that it's a kinglet. That wasn't the case this time. It would have been nice to see warblers, but we were perfectly happy with such close looks at so many kinglets.

Rounding out the day was a Blue-Headed Vireo and one or two Black-Throated Blue warblers along with a few of the usual Wissahickon birds.

So there it is: the big, the small and the blue of it. We thought we might see a few unusual birds because of the cooler weather but we never expected such a bonanza.