Spoonbill portrait

Spoonbills are one of my favourite birds to watch. Their ungainly bills and hunched pose, their unique feeding method, bill slightly open, swishing in shallow water left and right, left and right, moving with long strides, until their sensitive bill makes contact with prey, when they snap it shut, then swallow. They might look positively goofy, but Eurasian Spoonbills are stunning birds. In breeding plumage they grow a large tuft of plumes at the back of their heads and an orange wash on their chest to complement their bill tip. I drew the Spoonbill portrait on my Wacom tablet on ArtRage software, using watercolours, ink pens and pencils.

Common Buzzard

This is a scanned image of an old watercolour of a Buzzard I drew. I recently started scanning old paintings, some do not fit the scanner, so I might just take photos and upload them. It is one of the last watercolours I drew, 15 years old!

 

Brent Geese

A pair of Brent Geese navigate the creeks by the salt marsh. They can be relatively approachable near the harbours and towns in North Norfolk, and after the cold March, they seem to have delayed their migration to the Arctic, although today there were far less numerous than a week ago. Pencil.

Male Marsh Harrier

Flying low almost skimming the reed beds, gliding with ease, wings kept high, we have been watching Marsh Harriers daily in North Norfolk. It took me a while to finish this, and it cannot really be called a sketch, but here you go.

Feeding Avocet

Avocets first bed at Cley Marshes, Norfolk, after a long absence in the UK. We watched a few from one of the hides while they fed, often skimming the water surface with their bills.

Pair of Oystercatchers chasing an intruder

This pair of Oystercatchers displayed comically while approaching an intruder in Blakeney Freshes. They frantically run one after the other keeping their heads low and bills pointing to the ground.

First Sandwich Tern

The first Sandwich tern of the year arrives to Blakeney Point. They breed on the beaches at the Point and arrive in early April. They are my favourite terns, such graceful flight and uplifting calls.