28. Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)

Another North American duck which very occasionally turns up as a vagrant here in the UK. I loved this photo of what appears to be the most alert Blue-winged Teal ever!

Blue-winged Teal, ©winnu, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Blue-winged Teal sketch.

So far....

I've been doing this for about a month now so thought I would reflect on my drawing and blogging so far.

The main weakness of my drawings I think is that I struggle with proportions and the relative size and shape of different body parts. In a lot of cases I seem to have a tendency to shorten the body, and wings if in flight, of birds. I'm not sure this is improving with practice either! I definitely will move to a whole page per drawing to see if being less restricted for space makes any difference. If not maybe I will just embrace it and adopt a 'chunky' style?!

Most drawings have taken longer than originally intended - when I first started I thought about 5-10 minutes per drawing, however I've probably spent about half an hour on most and longer on a few, mainly due to my fastidious nature and inablility to let go of a drawing that looks unfinished or messy to my eyes. This has led to a few hectic evenings although overall finding time to do drawings hasn't been as much of a problem as I thought it might potentially be and I've just about managed to keep up with one a day. I would really like to do more work in colour though,

Drawing and blogging has definitely helped me learn and engage more with the natural world already. For example working my way through all those grey geese, a group with which I wasn't previously very familiar, has made me feel like I could now at least have a good stab at telling apart a Pink-Footed Goose from a Bean Goose, or a White-Fronted from a Lesser White-Fronted. Blogging about my birdwatching trips has also increased my awareness of other aspects of nature aside from birds as I'm also on the lookout for interesting things to take photos of (my camera's not really good enough to get any decent bird pictures!) and write about when I get home. So I'm excited to be attempting to learn more about identifying plants too!

27. Garganey (Anas querquedula)

Another different pose today, this time a front view of a standing Garganey. Garganeys are slightly unusual in that they're the only duck that migrates to the UK to breed, spending their winters in warmer African climes.

Garganey, ©Marie Hale, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Garganey sketch.

Incidentally, the photo above was taken in Malta - you may well be familiar with the circumstances there regarding illegal hunting of birds, it's pretty shocking. The recent spring hunting season has just ended and it sounded like one of the worst in recent years, completely out of control, the Maltese armed forces actually had to be deployed to police the situation. Please read more about it on the BirdLife Malta website and consider signing this petition calling for an end to illegal hunting and trapping of birds in Malta. Thank you!

26. Teal (Anas crecca)

For a bit of variety, I've done a pair of ducks today. Tried to keep it a bit looser as the past few have become increasingly detail-obsessed.

Teals, ©houroumono, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Teals sketch.

2 stout Teals.

25. Marbled Duck (Marmaronetta angustirostris)

Also known as Marbled Teal, which caused me a few moments of confusion when I was looking for photos. Another relatively unknown one for me, not surprisingly though as they are only locally distributed in random spots roughly around the Mediterranean and Middle East, and are classed by the IUCN as Vulnerable.

Marbled Duck, ©Ken Billington, via Wikimedia Commons.

Marbled Duck sketch.

I fudged the plumage on the breast and side a bit in an attempt to do it quicker. All these intricately patterned geese and ducks are making me really look forward to drawing a Magpie. Also I feel justified in going off the edge of the page for once this time - look, it's not only me that does it!

24. American Wigeon (Anas americana)

Another mysterious (i.e. I haven't seen one) American duck today, the American Wigeon looks a bit like someone decided to paint a Eurasian Wigeon different colours. Or a Eurasian Wigeon looks like an American Wigeon painted different colours, depending on your viewpoint.

I wanted a more interesting pose today so have gone for this cheery looking fellow. I wonder if he's making a similar noise to his Eurasian cousins, Collins doesn't tell me? However xeno-canto does, and it does turn out to be fairly similar, although not quite the same.

American Wigeon, ©ingridtaylar, via Flickr Creative Commons.

American Wigeon sketch.

Again I spent longer than intended on this, and I seem to have made him rather chunky!

23. Wigeon (Anas penelope)

Wigeon might be my favourite duck, but I can't decide between it and another duck (to be revealed!)......screw it I'll just have to have 2 favourite ducks.

Wigeon, ©Ian A Kirk, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Wigeon sketch.

Spent a bit longer than intended on this drawing but it's still a bit wonky. Shame there was no time for any colour, I love the colours on wigeons - probably the main reason they're one of my favourites, along with their jaunty whistling calls.