House Martin painting

I finally finished this painting a couple of days ago - I'd started it quite a while back, but then with all the upheaval of moving house and starting a new job in June it had taken a bit of a back seat. My partner Chris had asked me to paint a bird for him and we chose House Martin as it's one of his favourites - they used to nest outside his bedroom window back at his parents' house in York. I was quite pleased with the final result especially given my past difficulties with drawing and painting birds in flight! Hopefully my next painting won't take so long....

House Martin painting.

Art class at Hereford Museum Resource & Learning Centre

Things are settling down into a new routine now after we moved house and I started a new job at the end of June. We now live in Malvern and it's marvellous, we're 15 minutes' walk from the hills and I'd added Raven and Peregrine to my garden bird list within a week or two of being here! I'm hoping to post some more paintings soon; here is the first one in a while.

Yesterday morning I went to an art class at Hereford Museum Resource & Learning Centre, which I really enjoyed! We were drawing and painting bird specimens from the museum's collection and I was looking forward to being able to closely observe the birds in (relatively) lifelike poses. I've blogged previously about drawing and painting from a dead bird which I didn't enjoy so much, mainly due to its lifeless pose and closed eyes. This time was much more enjoyable, in part because the birds were posed, and also because it was a refreshing change from how I usually paint. We only had 2 hours, and would be working at a large scale on A2-sized paper. First of all we had to choose a bird from the many on offer - here are a couple!

Cuckoo.

Green Woodpecker.

I chose a handsome male Black Grouse; I've enjoyed drawing one previously, especially the blue iridescence of its plumage, and thought I should be able to produce something passable within 2 hours. I used my preferred medium of watercolours.

My chosen specimen!

I didn't quite finish in the allotted time, but was pleased with what I had done. I was able to complete it at home later!

Nearly there...

The finished painting.

Red-backed Shrike painting

Here's a painting I recently completed of a super-cool bird, the Red-backed Shrike. I did this one to submit to an exhibition; alas it was not selected to be exhibited but I enjoyed doing it a lot. It was a nice opportunity to choose whatever subject I fancied, and also to experiment with incorporating more of a background, something I'm trying to get better at. I am trying to keep my backgrounds relatively simple, so that the main focus is on the bird and also because I find them much less interesting to paint! I am however envious of artists who are able to place their bird subjects within the context of a marvellous landscape....I think there is a balance to work towards in my own paintings between the bird and its surroundings; I don't think I quite achieved it just yet in this one.

Red-backed Shrike watercolour painting.

Swallow painting for Brewood Ringers

A few months ago, Ben from Brewood Ringers got in touch with me via this blog to ask whether I would donate a painting to the ringing group, for them to raffle off to raise money for their activities. I was happy to oblige - a nice excuse to do something a bit different from my usual paintings for this blog (sorry about the lack of these lately!). I was given free rein but asked Ben if there were any species in particular that might be particularly relevent to the group; he suggested a few and from those I chose Swallow. I hadn't yet painted anything with similar colouration to a Swallow so was looking forward to working in this pallette; also I hoped that this would be a nice subject for a painting that someone would be happy to win in a raffle - everyone likes Swallows! I painted in my usual medium of watercolours; here's the finished painting:

Swallow watercolour painting.

And here it is in its frame:

Framed Swallow painting.

I delivered the painting to Brewood Ringers at the weekend, at one of their ringing demonstrations at Ashwood Nurseries near Kingstanding. It was great to meet them and catch the end of their demo; I got to release a Greenfinch :o) Afterwards we headed over to nearby Wall Heath to catch up with the Hoopoe that has been there all winter. There were a few birders there and it wasn't long before one of them found the Hoopoe, feeding and bumbling around in some long scrubby grass. This habitat didn't make for the best photos but we enjoyed some nice close views through binoculars; see if you can pick out the Hoopoe in my dreadful record shots below!

Greenfinch.

Me about to release the Greenfinch.

View full size to find the Hoopoe!

View full size to find the Hoopoe!

View full size to find the Hoopoe!

I hope the raffle ticket sales raise lots of money for the group, and that whoever ends up winning my painting likes their prize!

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker painting for KNNR newsletter

Since I adopted Kings Norton Nature Reserve as my local patch last October, I've made contact with various lovely people from the Friends of Kings Norton Nature Reserve and their committee. Recently their Chairman Phil Evans asked if I would mind writing an article for their next newsletter about my birding experiences so far at the reserve. Of course I was happy to contribute - it would be a nice opportunity to put something back into the reserve that I have already got a lot of enjoyment from.

Phil asked me to provide some photos with the article I wrote; although I've got plenty of scenes of the reserve, I don't really have any good ones of birds I've seen there, so I decided to do a painting instead of my favourite sighting at KNNR so far - Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. It's done in my usual preferred medium of watercolours; I'm pretty happy with how the woodpecker himself has turned out, but I am not so good at backgrounds (I've had less practice, and find them so much less interesting to paint than lovely birds!). I kind of ran out of time a bit so the tree trunk isn't looking as good as I would have liked! I think I could probably improve it with a bit more work but the newsletter deadline is here so the image and article have been sent off, and I am a bit more excited about starting on the next painting to be honest :o)

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker watercolour painting.

A Christmas Willow Tit

I haven't posted many paintings of late, because I've been working on a 'proper' painting which I've been taking a bit more time over (more on that at a later date), and also have produced a new painting which you can now buy on a Christmas card!

I felt this was a good excuse to paint one of my favourite birds, a Willow Tit. Whilst not exactly Christmassy, they do fill me with wintery feelings, as they are hardy little birds able to survive very harsh conditions due to their awesome food-caching skills! I plan to donate 25% of the retail price of the cards to the BTO, so if you like Christmas, Willow Tits, and raising money to fund bird research, head over to my shop now :o) or if you're likely to see me any time soon and would like to buy some cards, just let me know!

207. Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

Another smallish cute wader (there are lots!), Common Ringed Plovers or just Ringed Plovers to most are a widely distributed species, breeding in parts of northern Europe, northern Russia and Siberia and around the edge of Greenland. They winter in Africa - anywhere in the continent except the Sahara - and also around coastal parts of southern and western Europe (including bits of the UK) and the Middle East. The UK and nearby coastal regions of mainland Europe (France, Belgium and the Netherlands) are generally the only places where Ringed Plovers can be found all year round. Their preferred habitats are sandy or shingly beaches (against which they are excellently camouflaged) and other water margins e.g. along the edges of large lakes, mudflats and estuaries. During the breeding season they are not too gregarious but can form large flocks during migration and in winter. Their plumage is very distinctive; the photo shows an adult in summer. In winter the bill becomes mainly black and the legs may be slightly less bright orange; the black mask and breast band become browner and less distinctive. Juveniles look similar to winter adults, with duller orange or yellowish legs and less uniformly-coloured upperparts - they have a scaly appearance. Here in the UK the only other similar-looking species you're most likely to encounter is Little Ringed Plover; Ringed Plovers can be told apart by the lack of a yellow eye-ring, orange legs (and bill in summer), larger size and rounder, chunkier appearance.

Common Ringed Plover, ©Kjartan Birgisson, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Common Ringed Plover painting.

Not too shabby.

206. Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)

Here's one I've been looking forward to for a while! Little Ringed Plovers are probably one of my favourite birds, because obviously, they are adorable. They are a regular visitor to RSPB Sandwell Valley although their breeding attempts have not always been successful there (if only they would nest next to the Common Terns, I'm sure their eggs and chicks would then avoid predation). A few thousand of these diminutive waders breed in the southern half of the UK, and they are a relatively recent arrival here, having bred for the first time in the 1930s. They like sparsely vegetated pebbly/sandy/muddy shorelines along freshwater, such as at gravel pits, lakes, reservoirs, sewage works and along rivers. Even post-industrial sites with puddles will serve (see below)! Little Ringed Plovers look similar to Ringed Plovers, but are smaller and slimmer, with a bright yellow eye-ring in the adults and lacking the bright orange legs of their larger relatives. Juvenile look quite similar to the adults, but lack the black face pattern and breast band, having more tentative brown markings instead, and also have no yellow eye-ring. Outside of the UK, they are very widely distributed - breeding virtually continuously all the way across to Japan, although they are not usually found in large numbers. There are resident populations in some parts of south Asia, and others winter in central Africa and parts of equatorial Asia.

Another reason why I like Little Ringed Plovers so much is that one of my formative birding experiences involved them, so they remind me of that time of discovery and also of the other fun stuff that was going on in my life back then. It was back in 2008 when I was living in York with my parents after finishing my first degree, and trying to work out what to do next. I was working part time at a jewellery shop with some lovely people, building up my birding skills by volunteering at St Nicholas Fields and enjoying loads of great live music with my gig buddy Barwell.....good times! I used to commute to work on foot, a walk of around 45 minutes, which took me past the old carriageworks next to York railway station. This was an area of derelict industrial land which was starting to be reclaimed by nature; I often wondered what interesting things I might find there if I could explore it but I don't think there was any 'official' way in. I was always peering in anyway while walking past and one day in May I noticed a couple of small, fluffy, long-legged chicks bobbling around on the gravel! They were very close but without adult plumage I wasn't sure what they might be. After that I brought my binoculars whenever I walked along that route, and although I didn't see the plovers every time, had soon found an adult. Back then I wasn't familiar with the differences between Ringed and Little Ringed Plover so as soon as I got to work I was on the laptop to check which it was, and bingo - of course it was Little Ringed Plover. A life tick for me at that time! Over the summer I saw them quite a few times, and was able to see the chicks grow up. In September that year I moved back to Birmingham where I've been ever since so I don't know whether the plovers returned again; I've seen many Little Ringed Plovers since too, but my first encounter with them remains one of my favourite birding memories.

Little Ringed Plover, ©Frank Vassen, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Little Ringed Plover painting.

Took my time on this one and I'm quite pleased with it :o)

205. Black-winged Pratincole (Glareola nordmanni)

Black-winged Pratincoles are very similar in appearance to Collared Pratincoles but with a few small differences. As the name suggests, Black-winged Pratincoles have darker wings; they also lack the white trailing edge on the inner wing that Collared Pratincoles have. Their tail is slightly shorter, so that the wings extend beyond the tail tip when the bird is at rest, and they also have slightly longer legs and less red on the bill. Juveniles of both species look pretty much identical though! The habitat is similar to that of Collared Pratincoles but with more of a preference for wetter, more vegetated habitats. Black-winged Pratincoles breed mainly in central Asia, with their distribution stretching from Ukraine to the northern tip of China; they winter in parts of southern and western Africa. They are a rare vagrant to western Europe.

Black-winged Pratincole, ©Sergey Pisarevskiy, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Quite a quick one today. Bit chunky again as is my tendency.

204. Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola)

Collared Pratincoles are very smart if slightly weird waders. They have long pointed wings and forked tails, making them appear tern- or swallow-like in flight, and they feed by hawking for insects in flight. For a wader they have relatively short legs and bill too. The plumages are similar in both adult males and females; in summer it is as in the photo below and in winter they lose their black collar and red at the base of the bill. Juveniles also lack these features, and have mottled wings and a broad spotted breast-band. Their preferred habitat is open, flat, dry areas near water, mudflats, saltpans, wet meadows, canals and river and estuary edges. They breed in various parts of southern Europe and north Africa around the Mediterranean, and further east as far as Kazakhstan. They winter in sub-Saharan and parts of east Africa; there are also resident populations here too. Every so often a vagrant turns up in the UK and other parts of northern Europe.

Collared Pratincole, ©Pedro Jordano, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Collared Pratincole painting.

Hmm that Pratincole on the right is a bit of a big fella! I did have two attempts at sketching it out, the first time was even bigger.... This was the last page of my current sketchbook, the next one is bigger so hopefully going off the edge of the page will be less of a problem.

It's nice having a bit more free time now for painting as my degree is nearing its end, I only have one more assignment to submit in September. As well as work for my blog I've also been doing some other paintings (hence fewer posts on here) which will remain secret and mysterious for now! Have been practicing my newly-acquired driving skills too, with mixed results - today I drove to the Clent Hills with Chris for a lovely walk, but my driving was not quite so lovely. I was feeling a bit discouraged by this but doing this painting cheered me up a bit, as I enjoy painting in and of itself (obviously) and it also reminded me that when I first started, my bird paintings and drawings were of a lower standard than they are today. If you practice at anything, you will improve!

View towards Birmingham from the Clent Hills.

203. Cream-coloured Courser (Cursorius cursor)

Cream-coloured Coursers are small, plover-like waders, but with a curved bill and longer legs. Males and females have similar, plain buff plumage with a strongly marked head; juveniles are browner and more speckled. They all have very distinctive black outer wings and all-black underwing, visible usually only in flight. Their preferred habitat is open, dry, bare flat terrain such as semi-desert and savannah. Their distribution is patchy around north Africa, generally avoiding the central Saharan region; they are also found in parts of the Middle East and India. Occasionally they turn up as vagrants in Europe.

Cream-coloured Courser, ©Tarique Sani, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Cream-coloured Courser painting.

Hmmm, not too bad but I seriously bodged the feather detail on the neck - doh!

202. Senegal Thick-knee (Burhinus senegalensis)

Senegal Thick-Knees are closely related to Eurasian Stone Curlews, as evidenced by their very similar appearance. The main differences are that Senegal Thick-knees have a slightly longer, stouter bill with more black than the Stone Curlew, no black-bordered white wing-bar, and a slightly plainer outer tail. They are more closely tied to water, preferring similar habitats to Eurasian Stone Curlews but always near rivers, lakes, mangroves or irrigated fields. Senegal Thick-knees are resident in Egypt and also much of central sub-Saharan Africa.

Senegal Thick-knee, ©Sergey Yeliseev, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Senegal Thick-knee painting.

Quite pleased with this one, although its tail is rather too short.

30 Days Wild | Day 23 - time for some painting

On day 23 of 30 Days Wild I worked on a painting that I'd started ages ago! This is part of my challenge to myself to draw or paint every bird in the Collins Bird Guide - the reason that I originally set up this blog back in 2013. However my workload over the past few months meant that I'd had to put my paintings on hold for a bit. Now I've got a bit more free time I'm hoping to get back to doing them more regularly. As you can see from the date on the painting below I started it back in March, so I was very happy to finally finish it! To be honest, I worked on it on both days 23 and 24 of 30 Days Wild - but I did the bulk of it on day 23, day 24 was just finishing touches really! I've also posted it along with the photo and a description of Stone Curlews here, following the format of all my previous paintings and drawings.

Stone Curlew watercolour painting.

So far on my painting and drawing challenge I've tried using pencils, acrylic paints, coloured pencil crayons and watercolours. My favourite media has definitely been watercolours and I do most of my work using those now. However I received as a gift from a friend recently some more media to try - aquarelle crayons and charcoal - so I'm looking forward to giving those a go too, especially the aquarelle crayons! You can see a Pinterest board of my favourites from my paintings and drawings, they are a bit variable in quality but I think I'm slowly improving :o)

201. Eurasian Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus)

Eurasian Stone Curlews, or just Stone Curlews to us here in the UK, are always a very exciting bird to see! A small number breed here, mainly in Suffolk, Norfolk and Wilshire where there is nesting habitat that meets their very exacting needs. They like dry open habitat with some sparse, low vegetation, such as arable farmland, heathland, dried mud and stony pastures. They rely on their excellent camouflage and mostly nocturnal habits (hence their large eyes) to avoid predation, although this isn't always successful - I once saw a distraught female Stone Curlew running around Weeting Heath calling plaintively for her chick which had just been caught by a Stoat, it was a sorry sight indeed. However Stone Curlews are subject to active and intensive conservation efforts here and as a result aren't doing too badly at all. They have breeding populations in other parts of Europe and the Middle East; there are resident populations in parts of southern Europe and north Africa, and more northern breeders winter in parts of north Africa. The sexes look alike and juveniles appear similar, but less strongly-marked.

Eurasian Stone Curlew, ©Michele Lamberti, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Stone Curlew painting.

As you can see from the date at the top of this painting, I started it some time ago! My studies got in the way, but now they've calmed down a bit I'm hoping to have more time for painting again. The Stone Curlew's cryptic plumage and this particular individual's complex pose also meant this was quite a time-consuming painting, but I am quite happy with the result :o)

200. Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Black-winged Stilts are super-elegant leggy waders, which normally breed in southern Europe but have very infrequently bred in the UK. Most recently they successfully bred here last year, and as the climate continues to warm it's possible they will breed here more frequently in future. They are pretty unmistakeable, with their pied plumage and slightly ridiculously long legs; males have a uniformly glossy black back and females' and juveniles' backs are browner. The head pattern can vary in both sexes with males generally having more black markings than females, and some individuals having completely white heads. Their preferred habitat is shallow fresh, brackish or saline water with mud/sand/clay in places like estuaries, lagoons, saltpans, with maybe some short vegetation. They are very widely distributed, being found throughout much of Africa and across central Asia as far as Taiwan. Generally they are migratory in the northern part of their range, and resident in the more southerly parts.

Black-winged Stilt, ©Wayne Butterworth, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Black-winged Stilt painting.

My 200th painting! A bit chunky, but not too bad. I would love to see a Black-winged Stilt, hopefully I will someday soon!

199. Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)

Pied Avocets, or just plain Avocets as they are known to us here in the UK, are an immediately recognisable bird and are familiar to many as the symbol of the RSPB. They are a conservation success story here - they went extinct in 1840, but recolonised in the 1940s and numbers have been increasing ever since. They like saline or brackish water with plenty of mud for foraging, so are found on open seashores, saltmarshes, lagoons and lakes; also estuaries and mudflats outside of the breeding season. The sexes appear fairly similar, but males have a slightly longer, less sharply upturned bill, and females may have slightly less sharply-defined black/brown head markings. Juveniles look similar but with generally duller brown markings which are more extensive. Avocets have webbed feet so can swim through deeper water as well as wading in shallower water. In the UK they are found around English coasts and also at localised inland sites with suitable habitat (my nearest Avocet colony is at Upton Warren); they are patchily distributed around the coast of Europe and north Africa, with northernmost breeders generally wintering further south, central and southern breeders generally being resident, and wintering populations generally only found in southermost Europe and north Africa. Although there is a bit of overlap between all of those! Further afield, their distribution spreads all the way across to China.

Pied Avocet, ©Åsa Berndtsson, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Pied Avocet painting.

Haven't had as much time as I would've liked this week for painting, as I've been hard at work practicing for my driving theory test, which I passed this afternoon - hurrah. Now I'm heading off to a Wildlife Trust talk about badgers! Woo Friday night, I know how to party!

198. Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

Time now for the waders, a dauntingly large group containing many streaky brown guys who will no doubt have me impatiently splodging various shades of brown everywhere to make a right mess. However I'm excited to start painting waders as it's also the group that contains some of my favourites such as Little Ringed and Ringed Plover and the phalaropes, and one of my most wanted birds, Dotterel. Plus I will get a nice gentle start with Oystercatcher today! 

Oystercatchers are among the UK's best-known waders, being noisy residents year-round of our coasts, and also breeding inland - where I volunteer at RSPB Sandwell Valley, we have the same pair returning every year to breed. They're easily recognisable, or at least the female is, because she only has one foot - it doesn't seem to hinder her too much though! From watching their antics over the past few years, it's apparent that they invest a high level of parental care in their offspring, and this pays off, with them successfully raising many young'uns. Oystercatchers are unmistakeable with their black and white plumage, bright orange bills, pink legs and noisy calls. In winter they also develop a white stripe along their chin. They like open areas including a wide range of coastal habitats - tidal mudflats, sandy beaches, saltmarshes, sand dunes and grassy clifftops - also lake, reservoir and river shores, and fields in upland areas. Eurasian Oystercatchers are also resident around the coasts of other European countries at similar latitudes to the UK; they also breed inland and at higher latitudes in many northern European countries. They are found in winter only around more southerly coasts (Atlantic coasts of the Iberian peninsula and France; north Africa; Greece). Further afield, their distribution stretches right across central Asia to coastal China and Russia.

Eurasian Oystercatcher, ©Knut Nilsen, via Flickr Creative Commons

Oystercatcher painting.

Hmm quite like this one :o) a bit cartoonish but that's Oystercatchers for you.

197. Little Bustard (Tetrax tetrax)

As the name suggests, Little Bustard is the smallest of the bustards considered here, and like many of its cousins it too is in decline, being classifed as Near Threatened due to habitat loss and degradation and hunting. Like the Great Bustard, adult male Little Bustards in the breeding season have an impressive chunky neck (attained through puffing out their neck feathers) with striking plumage; females and juveniles are slimmer and mottled sandy brown with white underparts. In flight they show extensive white on their wings, making them easily identifiable. They are resident in some parts of southern Europe (Spain, southern France, Sardinia and southern Italy; also northern Morocco) and some also breed in central France but winter further south. Further afield they are also found in parts of Turkey, the Middle East and central Asia. Their preferred habitat is open countryside with low vegetation for cover, such as dry grassland and low-intensity arable fields.

Little Bustard, ©Blake Matheson, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Little Bustard painting.

That is one fat bustard. I spent a bit longer on the wing feathers this time to try and get the details looking slightly more convincing, I like it better than the last few I've done but it's still not great. There are no shortcuts I guess!

196. Macqueen's Bustard (Chlamydotis macqueenii)

Macqueen's Bustard looks very similar to the Houbara Bustard, but has some black in its crest (not visible in the photo below!) where the Houbara Bustard's is all white; Macqueen's Bustard also appears less densely barred on its back. It also likes similar habitats - arid desert, semi-desert and dry steppe with sparse vegetation - but has a more easterly distribution, being resident in parts of the Middle East, and migratory further east in its range. Again, like the Houbara Bustard, it is also classed as Vulnerable, due to similar pressures - hunting and habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. Slightly more bizarrely, they apparently also risk being 'misidentified' as suicide bombers - I recently read in the BTO magazine that 'a Macqueen's Bustard was 'shot down' in Afghanistan as it was believed to be a suicide bomber! The ringed bird was carrying a satellite tag as part of a project, but was mistakenly claimed to be equipped by the Taliban with an explosive pouch, GPS tracker and detonator and wearing a specially designed 'suicide vest''. Poor old Bustard!

Macqueen's Bustard, ©Kannan AS, via Wikimedia Commons.

Macqueen's Bustard painting.

Hmm, a bit too chunky and that shade of brown is way too red!

195. Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata)

Houbara Bustards are quite large, being around the size of a medium sized duck, but obviously with much longer legs and neck. Like the Great Bustard, they are classified as Vulnerable, due again to hunting pressure, habitat loss and disturbance. They are resident across north Africa in arid areas such as semi-desert, steppe and desert, with sparse scrub and bushes to provide cover. There is also another race found in the Canary Islands, and that is the one illustrated in the photo below - despite the rarity of this race it was actually somewhat easier to find nice photos of it! The nominate north African race is slightly larger, having upperparts of a warmer lighter brown colour with less extensive vermiculation than the Canary Islands fuertaventurae race. Like Great Bustards, they perform a similarly extravagant feathery courtship display, and the male in the image below looks like he's just starting or finishing one. Females are smaller and slightly greyer, with a less strongly-defined black neck-band.

Houbara Bustard, ©Andrej Chudý, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Houbara Bustard painting.

Hmm I might try and find some better scanner software than crummy Windows Fax & Scan which is not picking up all the detail in my paintings. To be fair in this one, it's a combination of subtleties which the scanner has missed out, and subtleties which are just absent because I didn't paint them!

Edit: have now installed better scanner software and rescanned my most recent paintings.