Thank you tbbilbo!
I have to say that all you guys have really inspired me with the 'birding' part of art.... I have made sure now that I always carry my camera with me, and it has already paid of! Yesterday I saw a new bird, which I think was a Vinous-throated parrotbill, and I got some pictures and a small video of it. Unfortunately are the photos quite crappy, as my camera is small, and the birds were moving so fast... But I was able to watch them for quite some time... They were not happy that I was there though. I think they must have had their nests in that bush, because they were very loud and seemed agitated over my presence so close... A pair of light-vented bulbuls came along, and I saw one catch a dragonfly... I got a much better photo of the bulbul... he came out from the bush and sat very convenient on a straw in plain sight!
I have always been bad at keeping up my drawing. I usually go straight to the paints, and that does not give me an understanding of the character and the lines of a birds that I can see in so many of your field studies here... So now I have gotten inspired to draw more, and as I am now gathering much more information of the birds than ever before, I will hold my own 'field-sketching' in my studio from my photographs and videos. I have also found some very nice videos on you tube that are great for sketching... Just to start practicing more.
In the attachments are some examples of the usual sketches that I do in my inspirational journal, as I call it. I always play with the background and compositions, and when I have done my sketch of the bird on a separate paper (usually in watercolor) I glue it in on a background that suites it. It is more planning of paintings than a real study of the birds, and I think I need to do more studies just of the birds. The kingfisher (from my own photo) I saw in Xianmen here in China, and the beautiful red crested cardinal I saw on Maui in Hawaii. (I only got 3 dark photos from him, for this I have gotten permission from the photographer to use her photo as a reference. But I will try and do something from my own photos as well)
So, thank you so much for the inspiration you have all given me of becoming more of a craftsman, and I hope that I soon will have some new fresh studies of birds to share with you!