Apple-Pine: birds

Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts

Experiment Result: Changing my Schedule to Get More Walks During Daytime Results in More Sketches! (and a happier me)

I actually like when time changes twice a year, but not in a rational way.

I like lights everywhere and special baking projects that I start when this time arrives. I like that mornings are lighter (at least for a bit), and I like that later I can track changes in the light as the day begins.

Rationally, I know that this sudden change is a cause for a lot of stress to a lot of people, including me! In reality, I am unhappy that it gets dark so early, and my evening walks are a struggle, a fight with myself that I start to lose. So this year, to get a cure for my struggles, I decided to embrace morning or lunch walks - and this brought some sketching opportunities!

Little Notes From Walks and Hikes

These are three sketches from different days, but they tell a story of how some of the sketching is happening these days. I always have some drawing materials with me, but recently I started using more colored pencils but my black pen is always with me. Often when I draw on location the light situation is making me move super fast - palm trees were on a super sunny day, and the paper was blinding me. Where the evening sketch was done while the sun was disappearing. When I add these little sketches from the day to my main sketchbook, I might add some notes. And sometimes all the notes are from the moment when I was sketching - like on the very last drawing - where I was trying to find with my eyes all the birds that I was able to hear - and ants were driving me away from my perching spot!

Bird Situation (Sounds, Identification and Sketches)

There is a certain change in bird activity in the area as migration season is in full swing. Some birds are just passing by, others are arriving to spend winter here. With the changes in weather throughout the world many birds are migrating less or skipping the whole ordeal altogether (for example some turkey vultures are no longer leaving during summer - our neighboring family still does though, and they are back).

I noticed how much more bird sounds we have by the end of September and since then it just continues to multiply and change. I am using an app to identify birds by call (Merlin Bird ID is my current choice - though there are many) - simply make my phone listen and then I get a list of birds with some additional information. Then I can look them up, find them in my photos of the trees, draw them, and wonder about their names too :)

But for some of the birds I do not need an app to identify them by sound or otherwise. And the other day there was a huge argument between two groups of them which lasted for several hours. I wish I knew what it was about!

A True Story with Owls and Ink.

My friend is following a couple of owls in the park and sent me some really cool photos and videos. Another friend gave me a tiny bottle of ink with glitter - to try. This turns into a whole bunch of sketches. True story. I hope to see the owls for myself and get that glitter to show up but actually really happy with what I have so far.

Bike and sketch outing with birdwatching.

I took my bike for some quality time together and we saw a pod of white pelicans, a commotion of coots, a raft of mallard ducks that were looking for mates, a gulp of cormorants drying off on what used to be a pier, and some great and snowy egrets. I am looking forward to a chance to use a word for multiple egrets nesting in one area - since I know where that rookery happens in May not far from me.

Sketching birds at their morning routine.

Beautifully sunny and clear morning to ride a bike! I sketched a bunch of birds sitting on the half-submerged pipe. All the birds were pruning though I did not catch the angle of the blue heron's head so he is pretty static in my drawing.

Here is a little collage of the process and details.

Recent trip report | part 5

In between everything that I packed in a short week in Ukraine I drew little things here and there - mostly while waiting. Some waits allow you to draw a whole collection of things you see, some are a few lines, some allow for color o story to be written around.

Sketchbook #113: Hummingbird Nest Story

One wonderfully sunny morning I saw a hummingbird dive into a tree just outside my kitchen window. And then again. And again. There were quite a few old leaves still on the tree and quite a few new ones - but with a bit of searching and binoculars I soon realized that there is a new nest in progress!

I was very excited and kept my observations (from a quiet spot), took notes on how often the bird would grab a piece of spiderweb from my succulents or how she would stop by the fuchsia flower for a snack. And I tried to sketch - though it was pretty hard - with the amount of camouflage and a need for binoculars to see even a little bit. You can see most of my sketches below.

Unfortunately at some point the nest was abandoned. There was a big rain and who knows what else might have contributed but the project was scrapped without investing into eggs.

I know that the bird is well as she keeps coming to take parts of this nest and flies away with them :)