Dawn Chorus

Posted on January 5, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Beautiful, Birds, Birdsong, Blackbird, Insomnia, Listening, Music, peaceful, Quiet, Robin, WildlifeLeave a comment

Despite it being the start of January I am listening to a beautiful dawn chorus. It is either a Robin or a Blackbird. That’s because I’m struggling to sleep again. But hearing the liquid notes and swirling tunes is fascinating and lovely. I’m just sitting quietly and I can hear strong birdsong despite having double glazing. Each tune or snippet of song only lasts for a little while, then there is a short gap and the music starts again. There is no other sound out there. It’s too early for traffic or footsteps. Just a high series of tweets and whistles cascading from a small bird.

The weather forecast is for lower temperatures and snow rain and ice to return over the next few days. I shall make sure the birds in our garden have food and water. They deserve it for creating such beautiful song. I could not get a photo so excuse my drawing of the garden. Its full of trees and bushes. Now other birds are joining in. Excuse me while I listen… X

Old willow

Posted on December 30, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Birds, Lake, Life, old willow tree, Plants, Poem, Poetry, Tree, Water, Water fowl, WillowLeave a comment

Hanging willow

Dragging your leaves

Down into the water.

A fringe of twigs

Shimmer and shake

Reflected in the waters

Sheltering the birds

Lake land tree

Hiding them from predators…

Giving them a home….

Birds?

Posted on December 4, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Birds, curled paper, Cut paper, Life, Nature, Paper, resemblance, snowflakeLeave a comment

Off cuts of paper fly across a desk. The curl of paper behind is meant to show the wind swirling. The pieces were cut from a large paper snowflake I made to show a friends child how to cut shapes out. But to be honest I prefer these birdy shapes. Once I had curved their ‘wings’ out they took on even more of a resemblance of birds.

Feed the birds

Posted on September 29, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Autumn, Birds, Collage, Design, Feeding, Flight, Food, Fun, grain, Paper, sunflowers, Weather1 Comment

As the autumn approaches the northern hemisphere the weather gets colder. Local bird populations are looking for food. Some of them need to stock up so they can migrate others so they can overwinter in the UK.

You can get bird foods from local shops and pet stores. Grain, peanuts, sunflower seeds, fat balls, together with a fresh supply of water is what they need. If you feed them bread make sure it has been soaked in water, otherwise it can swell up in their crops and cause harm to them.

See your local nature charities for more information about feeding specific birds.

Framed pastel seascape

Posted on July 20, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Birds, Blue, Fish, Flying, Ocean, pastel drawing, Poem, Poetry, Sea, Sketching, Sky, trip, VisitLeave a comment

I must go down to the sea again

Says the old poem.

And I know why

Beauty and violence

Gentle lapping wavelets

And white horses.

Frantic families

Lost sailors

Storms and waves

So high they reach up, up

To the sky.

Birds skim the surface

Grab fish in their beaks

Puffins and Skewers

Cormorants and Choughs

Ever changing

Sometimes boring

I must go there again.

Feeding the geese

Posted on July 19, 2021July 19, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Birds, coots, Ducks, Geese, goslings, Moorhens, Swans, Walking, Westport lakeLeave a comment

Feed the birds.

£2 a box

There’s a song there somewhere? One of our things we do when we walked round Westport lake. The birds were all round us, pecking our toes. Trying to get the food out of my hand. Even in this weather they want feeding. Ducks, Geese, Goslings, Coots and Moorhens and a solitary Swan.

The birds still have babies, a bit bigger than yesterday, they haven’t all flown the nest yet. It was lovely to see them.

Another feather

Posted on July 1, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Birds, Environment, Feathers, Grey, Nature, Photo, Thinking, Walking2 Comments

Once you see something it’s hard not to see it. You ‘get your eye in’. I’ve recently seen a few different ones on various walks and I can’t resist taking photos of them. This could be a duck or a pigeon feather? I don’t know. I remember learning how feathers have thin strands with little hooks on them so when a bird preens it’s feathers the hooks can sort of zip the feathers up and hold the strands of the feathers together? I don’t know exactly how it works. I guess I should look it up on line or find a book with details in it. It is fascinating to think about the mechanics of birds wings.

Drawings at gentleshaw

Posted on May 30, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Animals, argos monitor, Birds, capuchin, Eccleshall, Falcons, Fun, gentleshaw rescue centre, Life, Owls, Staffordshire1 Comment

I did a few quick sketches of the birds and animals while we visited today. A great opportunity to sketch some lovely creatures.

Gentleshaw Wildlife rescue

Posted on May 30, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Animals, Birds, Eccleshall, Fun, Gentleshaw, Life, rescue centre, wildlife rescue centre3 Comments

A racoon, a baby owl and a falcon called Logan. They were all enjoying the sunny weather today.

Gentleshaw is a wildlife rescue centre and is based at Eccleshall in Staffordshire. It’s in a garden centre but is run seperatley. They offer bird flying experiences and take in animals that are unwanted by owners that cannot be placed in zoos. They give space and care for many birds and animals which could otherwise lose their lives.

My photos are a bit blurry but I also drew the birds and animals. See my next post!

Abstracted birds

Posted on May 26, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Abstract, Art, Birds, Collage, halftone, Pattern, Photodirector, Sketch appLeave a comment

When you play with digital apps you can get all sorts of effects, especially if you use more than one app.

In this piece I created the image using cut monoprint and post-it notes. Next, I imported it to my photodirector app, I used the effects button and converted it to a half tone pattern. Next I took it over to the sketch app and I added a flood fill with rainbow colours a few times. Finally back to photodirector, changing uthe texture and splitting the image into two seperate patterns. Always remembering the back button if I didn’t like the effect!

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Birds