Woody
Well-known member
What that old thing...? The Swale is a very big place! I reckon I'll have to wait for the next one to come along.
Mike
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Mike's conservatory (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Woody
- Start date
What that old thing...? The Swale is a very big place! I reckon I'll have to wait for the next one to come along.
Mike
Woody
Well-known member
Yes Mike - the turning of the season is becoming more apparent up here too; a rose-coloured starling heralding a mind-blowing few weeks of scarcities (he hopes
Looks like you could be right doesn't it!?
Mike
ARTHUR BISHOP
Well-known member
Super sketches Mike esp. Snipe and Lappy
Strandman
Well-known member
seconded- that is a nice Buzzard
ARTHUR BISHOP
Well-known member
A super pic. Mike
timwootton
Well-known member
Love it, love it!
mark richards
Well-known member
well done mike ...love it mark....
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
I'd amend that to: Never too many snipe paintings or too many snipe! A beautiful bird to see. I flushed 6 of them last week in Wisconsin and that was the last I saw of them! A beautiful paintingm and worthy of its subject.
Woody
Well-known member
Nice Elmley trip today, the weather couldn't have been better; Bright, clear sunlight and relatively cool temperatures, perfect early autumn.
The first sighting of note was the common buzzard, once again he was settled a long way off but I couldn't not just do another little thumbnail!
Closer and much easier to see properly were the lapwings and starlings sitting amongst the clods of earth and dead winter grasses. Sometimes very co-operative birds just sit and virtually beg for their portraits to be drawn.
Out on the scrapes the water level is very low and all that was to be seen was a couple of young shelducks and a mallard or two so I didn't stop for long. Instead I headed to one of the huge piles of mud and dry reeds and rushes that have been dredged out of most of the dykes and irrigation channels all over the reserve. These piles of grey-brown, clay filled mud make ideal hunting grounds for wheatears passing through on their way South and the wheatears make lovely subjects to draw, even if they are a bit lively!
Finally as I was leaving the reserve I had to screech to a halt when I spotted a small falcon perched on a cattle feeder, 'There's the merlin again!' I thought, but it wasn't... It was just another kestrel, and who can resist a kestrel? Not me.
My winter target list includes merlins and I managed three sightings today, probably all the same bird. The best one was probably the one that took me by surprise; I had heard some beardies calling and I managed to home in on three of them with the bins as they flew overhead. 'Ooo they're nice' I was thinking when all three suddenly closed their wings and dropped like stones towards a reed bed. I tracked them earthwards and, as I did so, across my field of vision a merlin came hurtling. Obviously she'd seen the same beardies that I had and probably thought much the same thing as me too! She missed as the beardies were too quick into cover but it was a great sighting for me.
The first sighting of note was the common buzzard, once again he was settled a long way off but I couldn't not just do another little thumbnail!
Closer and much easier to see properly were the lapwings and starlings sitting amongst the clods of earth and dead winter grasses. Sometimes very co-operative birds just sit and virtually beg for their portraits to be drawn.
Out on the scrapes the water level is very low and all that was to be seen was a couple of young shelducks and a mallard or two so I didn't stop for long. Instead I headed to one of the huge piles of mud and dry reeds and rushes that have been dredged out of most of the dykes and irrigation channels all over the reserve. These piles of grey-brown, clay filled mud make ideal hunting grounds for wheatears passing through on their way South and the wheatears make lovely subjects to draw, even if they are a bit lively!
Finally as I was leaving the reserve I had to screech to a halt when I spotted a small falcon perched on a cattle feeder, 'There's the merlin again!' I thought, but it wasn't... It was just another kestrel, and who can resist a kestrel? Not me.
My winter target list includes merlins and I managed three sightings today, probably all the same bird. The best one was probably the one that took me by surprise; I had heard some beardies calling and I managed to home in on three of them with the bins as they flew overhead. 'Ooo they're nice' I was thinking when all three suddenly closed their wings and dropped like stones towards a reed bed. I tracked them earthwards and, as I did so, across my field of vision a merlin came hurtling. Obviously she'd seen the same beardies that I had and probably thought much the same thing as me too! She missed as the beardies were too quick into cover but it was a great sighting for me.
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Woody
Well-known member
Just a couple more sketches from last week that got missed out. A couple of egrets were having a bit of a ding-dong in the shallow scrape so they went in the book. But the bird of the day was a juv hobby tearing at its small bird prey by the side of the access track. I couldn't get too close but it was a great thing to watch, circle of life and all that.
Mike
Mike
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timwootton
Well-known member
You leave it too long,mate! Look at these wheatears - superb. Caught all the frenetic activity in three sublime line-works. Lovely. There're two or three really gorgeous egret flight studies in there too - they show quality draftsmanship, no doubt. Kes ad hobby are expected to be handled deftly by this artist and again we aren't dissapointed - terrific.
What's next, eh?????
Ooo - how strange, my line of hyphens have columnised!!!!
What's next, eh?????
Ooo - how strange, my line of hyphens have columnised!!!!
