Sketches Here and There

A meager offering of doodles from last year's Moleskine sketchbook/journal.

Life sketches of a pair of green herons that began building a nest (but as far as I know, didn't lay any eggs) at the BNC pond last summer.

I watched one of them repeatedly dropping twigs into the water and initially thought s/he was simply a little clumsy, but when I read up on green herons I found that they are one of the only bird species that actually use tools! Apparently they will drop an object (a twig, blade of grass, leaf, etc.) onto the surface of a pond and then pounce on the fish that are attracted to the disturbance! I can't believe I got to observe this tool usage firsthand.

Mouse sketches (deermice mostly):


American kestrels:

The drawing on the left page, top right is from a photo I took at Kiptopeke State Park. The Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory bands both raptors and songbirds there--it's a fantastic opportunity to see some awesome species up cloase and the banders are always happy to answer questions.

Sketches from life at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair:


Life sketches of my sister's boyfriend's mutant chihuahua, Bubbles:

Woody the Woodpecker

My latest project for the Nature Exploration Area at BNC:

This is a pileated woodpecker, painted life-sized (16.5-18", according to various field guides) on a piece of wood salvaged from the tree crew's efforts. You can still see the marks where the chainsaw bit into the soft wood--the surface is therefore much more difficult to paint on than a canvas or panel, but I sand all the pieces first and put on a coat of polycrylic (similar to polyurethane, except water-soluble and non-yellowing), which prevents the paint from being absorbed into the wood so rapidly. I love having the bark as a "frame" of sorts!

Here's a close-up of the face:

I was using a mismatched collection of paints; the red was glossy but all the other colors were matte, which explains why the crest and malar stripe are so shiny--sorry about that!

More works on wood, in the woods

A few new installations for the Nature Exploration Area at Brookside Nature Center! These are a pair of plaques that I painted on chunks of red oak that Jenny salvaged from a fallen tree. They're installed in the NEA high off the ground, to simulate where someone might observe a screech owl or flying squirrel in real life.

Here's the Eastern screech owl (gray morph), painted approximately life-sized--about 8" head to tail:


A close-up of the face:


The work-in-progress (note the cool bug holes, probably made by ants):



And here's the pair of Southern flying squirrels. The nature center has a pretty active population of these guys; you can attend flying squirrel programs with the naturalists and have a pretty good chance at seeing these unobtrusive, nocturnal critters. (They are impossibly cute.) These, too, are approximately life-sized (about 5" for the body, 3-4" long tails):


And a side view, to show the neat curve of this particular piece of wood: