Sedge Warblers remind me of Dawn Chorus day, when I often visit a local nature reserve in the outskirts of the city. The heavy sky of dawn, these feisty migrants just arrived, perched on prominent positions, delivering their screechy, mimetic, loud and angry phrases, bursting into the air for a final flourish of flight song. Their throats are a vivid orange red, like little flames, I think they should be called Firethroats, but there is already another bird call that!
This morning I took a walk on one of my local cemeteries. This particular cemetery has been abandoned for a long time and is managed for wildlife. A piping Bullfinch called my attention and I found a pair feeding on Hawthorn buds. The male stretched to pick a bud and it inspired me to try to sketch it. Wacom tablet using pencil and watercolour.
A Peregrine falcon on scaffolding. I love watching Peregrines on human-made structures, Peregrines are doing very well as urban birds, nesting on power stations, cathedrals and high-rise buildings. There are now several web-cams showing some of these peregrines nesting attempts live. One of these pairs are the Newbury Peregrines and I based my sketch on a photo of the breeding female, Mrs N.
Although they might look black and white, House Martins have dark brown wings and tail. Their backs and heads are darker, with metallic reflections. A house martin in flight. Watercolour and pencil on wacom tablet.
A male Black Redstart on an iron beam. Pencil and ink on black background on Wakom tablet and Artrage6. I’m pretty pleased with the result.
I love Whitethroats. In the last week males have arrived from their winter quarters just South of the Sahara Desert and have started setting their territories in little scrubby corners even in the middle of cities, constantly singing their angry, scratchy song, like they are asking females ‘I am here, where are you?’ Females will be arriving soon and settle down to nest. I’m still experimenting with the oil setting in my Wacom tablet. I hoped to capture the atmosphere of a whitethroat in the dawn chorus.
During the last week, males of the summer migrant Blackcap population have been arriving at their territories. I heard my first one in the cemetery near home. Today, at my patch, four males were singing. They have a musical song, with a typical cadence. Occasionally a male will emerge from the thickets they prefer and sing in the open, from an exposed branch. Watercolour and pencil in my Wacom tablet.
A Blue tit sketch for today, a familiar bird I haven’t drawn much. Mainly pencil with some watercolour on Wacom tablet,
A sketch to unwind after a very long week, I’ve had in mind to draw a face-on Long-tail Tit for a while. Watercolour and pencil on Wacom Tablet.
Redshanks remind me of Blackbirds, in which, when they are disturbed, often even before you notice they are there, they fly off calling loudly, often making you start. Watercolour and pencil on my Wacom Tablet.
Bird Sketches 