“Nuthatch”, Linocut, 6×8
I plan on hand painting this when it is dry. It should be ready to sleeve and or frame by next months Art-A-Licious Festival in downtown Adrian, Sept 19th and 20th. I also plan on donating one of the prints to the Stubnitz Environmental Education Center fund raising auction on Sept. 27.
I’ve been thinking about the Gull a lot this summer. A lot of people think these birds are “crappy”, literally. I admit this one has done his fair share of pooping on the pontoon boat. But, that’s what lake living is all about. I look past this fellas diarrhetic issues and think about it’s other qualities. I love looking up into the blue and watching gulls circle high in the sky…their faint white silhouettes appearing and disappearing as I squint to see them. On night-time boat cruises, gulls are like ghosts, floating in large numbers……barely discernible in the darkness. And, what about the gull’s yalp?…a sound of summer, of water, of sun.
This photo was taken at Devil’s Lake on Sunday. I fished a little this weekend…before and after a friend’s wedding vow renewal at Hidden Lake Gardens. I also finished a novel by Edward Abbey, “A Fools Progress”. Ed is a strange bird himself. They call him the Thoreau of our age. I’m not sure he is as poetic but he certainly had passion. Anyway, I’m on my 5th Abbey book and intend to read them all eventually.
A little over a week ago I went to Silver Lake Recreation Area near Pickney, MI to hike some trails and take some photos. I tried to sneak up on a few Towhees with no success. Then I noticed this Towhee singing on a high branch without a care in the world. Later that day I stopped by Dexter’s Side Door Gallery to see Valerie Mann’s “Fortunes” installation. I feel fortunate to know such talented local artists like Valerie. She’s a busy woman. I believe she has work in three places….Ann Arbor, Dexter and Blissfield. I’m hoping to see them all if time permits.
Ok, now I need to get back to work on a new linocut. I put my bird project on hold to do a print of Chaloners Tobacco and magazine store in downtown Adrian….one of my favorite hangouts. This print will be used…if it turns out…for the Art-a-licous Festival in September.
Rummaging through my photos I found this one of a Northern Flicker. I took this last winter on a Sunday morning. I’m running low on bird photos so tomorrow I’m heading to Dexter to hike some trails and get some new bird close-ups. My goal is to capture as many Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Titmouses or Chickadees as possible. This weekend I’m starting on some sketches for a new woodcut relating to birds and trees. Birds and trees are not new to me. The playground of my youth was the woods around Beaver Creek just outside of Adrian. So, birds and trees have always been a part of my life. But, this year my friends will tell you that birds have really been on my mind a lot lately. It started with a purchase of the “Peterson’s Birding by Ear” CD from the Sugarland Nature Center in the Great Smoky Mountains. I’ve had an Audubon Bird Guide for at least 10 years and it’s received plenty of use. We keep it in the kitchen next to the binoculars so we can spy on birds eating from the feeders. After I studied the cd’s for a month or so I took a beginners birding class at Hidden Lake Gardens. I found that birding by ear is a good way to spot new birds. The instructor identified the unseen birds first by ear. If it was one that we hadn’t seen we scanned the trees. Sometimes we spotted it and sometimes we didn’t. About the same time I took the class a weird thing happened. I dropped my Nikon binoculars on the kitchen floor and broke them. A few days later my dad gave me a pair of Leopold binoculars that he won in a raffle. I hadn’t even told him about my broken Nikon. So, now I have a new set of binoculars that are smaller than my old pair with excellent optics. With all this new birding knowledge I broke down and purchased a new book, “Sibley’s Eastern Bird Guide”. It just came in the mail today and the first thing I do after I write this is crack it open….that and a cold brew…ha!
Last weekend K and I braved the rain and canoed the AuSable with some friends. It turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL weekend despite what the forecast called for. I kept a tally of all the birds I heard and saw while canoeing. This beauty came to visit us at our campsite at Parmalee. It’s a hair out of focus but I was also making pancakes at the time =) Since I do not want to post my current printmaking work until after my commissioner’s wedding, I will post a few birds instead.
This Barn Swallow was pretty easy to snap a shot of considering it is nesting under the pontoon boat. I use a Nikon D50 with a 55-200mm lens. I’m trying to capture as many birds as possible to use as photo reference material for printmaking. Swallows are much prettier in motion but I wasnt fast enough to catch one in flight….maybe next time.
Today was a busy day. I spent the morning taking a birding class at Hidden Lake Gardens. This is a photo of a Grey Catbird which didnt seem too upset about my presence. I also saw a few Indigo Buntings, a Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Kingbird, Pileated Woodpecker, Song Sparrow and Red-eyed Vireo. I did see a bunch of other common feeder birds such as Robins, Cardinals, Downey Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmouse and Gold Finches. We heard a Yellow Warbler but never saw him. Along the trails there were also nice blooms of Trillium…
and Columbine….
Here’s that Eastern Kingbird….
Bird of the day…the White Crowned Sparrow. I have been seeing them in numbers around the yard this week. I believe these guys are just passing by as they head to Canada. K spotted a Northern Oriole this morning but I couldnt get the camera out in time to get his pic.
Taking a break from mowing the lawn I heard an unfamiliar bird song outside the kitchen window. I took the field glasses outside to take a look and there were two birds I had never seen before high on our Maple tree. It took me about 15 minutes to get a good look to be able to identify it as a Yellow Rumped Warbler. I then grabbed the camera, set it on the highest resolution and snapped three pictures before it flew away. You cant see the yellow crown on his head or the yellow patch on his rump….but they were there.
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