Birders' Nest

[Elgarian Redux]

Number two is a Muscovy duck. It's actually an invasive species. They like to swagger up and down the street, making noise and being driving hazards, in little gangs. We're starting to Canadian geese travelling on their regular migration, which means there will soon be rumbles between ducks and geese over which group gets to slurp from the rain puddles

Hoorah for the Muscovy duck. I've never seen one.

[Elgarian Redux]

Number three--more ducks, but in the water and not on the street.
As Nature intended. And a goose to the right of them.

Hoorah for more ducks, and a goose. The water looks beautiful - pure Monet - but I've no idea what the species are.

Thanks for these Jeffrey!

[Elgarian Redux]

Up on the hills we saw not a single bird, but there was no shortage of horses. Aslan and Red Cloud had been moved to another field and were looking magnificent; while further up the hill was a group of other horses looking mysterious under the trees, but we don't know them personally.

[Iota]

I have to say, owlice, I agree with Elgarian, whatever frenetic process you go through to capture these images, it seems to be guided by some force other than just good luck and and a good camera. Operating at unconscious levels perhaps but nonetheless something that seems tangible to me (and clearly Elgarian) at least.

Greater Blue-eared Starling (Botswana)

That looks so sleek and magnificent set against the background of the blue sky, it seems ready to slip effortlessly into hypersonic speeds at the twitch of a muscle. Great photo!

If that's one of yours, Elgarian, it's another beauty!

Number two is a Muscovy duck. It's actually an invasive species. They like to swagger up and down the street, making noise and being driving hazards, in little gangs. We're starting to Canadian geese travelling on their regular migration, which means there will soon be rumbles between ducks and geese over which group gets to slurp from the rain puddles

Haha, sounds like the avian equivalent of some of the Mods and Rockers street battles of 1960's England!

[Elgarian Redux]

I have to say, owlice, I agree with Elgarian, whatever frenetic process you go through to capture these images, it seems to be guided by some force other than just good luck and and a good camera. Operating at unconscious levels perhaps but nonetheless something that seems tangible to me (and clearly Elgarian) at least.

Can two such minds possibly be wrong? I think the Owlice Fan Club is now well-established.

If that's one of yours, Elgarian, it's another beauty!

Guilty ....

But I think you've now seen the only things I have of this sort that are worth showing.

[owlice]

But I think you've now seen the only things I have of this sort that are worth showing.

So it is with the photos I've been showing! If one takes 700-1000 in a day, surely at least two or three would be worth showing, no matter who took them!! 

(Thank you both for your kind words!)

JBS, thanks for showing your local birds!! I will have to look at the first one more closely to try to determine what it is

Love the donkey, Elgarian!

~~~

I'm crushed with tasks, but leave you with a few landscapes I've had in mind to post for a while now. These are surely on topic as they were taken during birding excursions!  (I'll post birds eventually, since I've also had a few of them queued to post for a while now...)


Belize


Victoria Falls


Zambezi River at sunset


Lake Naivasha

[Elgarian Redux]

So it is with the photos I've been showing! If one takes 700-1000 in a day, surely at least two or three would be worth showing, no matter who took them!! 

This is a variant of the monkeys typing Shakepeare argument. If they type long enough, they'll accidentally type out the Works of Shakespeare. But if I recall the results of the statistical analysis correctly, they'd have to type for longer than the age of the universe to do it.

Can I suggest another approach? How do we assess the work of an artist? By his worst work? No - that goes in the bin. By some sort of average? I don't see how that would be practically possible. By his best work? Yes! We judge an artist by his best work. Those masterpieces in the great galleries by which great artists are known and loved are, by and large, their best works. That's pretty much how it's always been I think.

So if the Owlice-and-her-birds Fan Club is besotted with Owlice's best work, then so be it. It's the same the whole world over, I'd say. Bask in the glow, Owl!

Love the donkey, Elgarian!

It was a real donkey, but I don't remember where, when, or why.

I'm crushed with tasks, but leave you with a few landscapes I've had in mind to post for a while now. These are surely on topic as they were taken during birding excursions!

Belize


Victoria Falls


Zambezi River at sunset


Lake Naivasha

Wonderful landscapes - such a range of scope and mood, and beautifully composed. And essential context for your bird & animal photos: we need to know where you see these creatures - where and how they live. Thank you, as ever.

[owlice]

Some birds local to me (local meaning on my street).
You would think being in the subtropics we would get some colorful ones. But we don't. Maybe they save themselves for the tourists.
Number one was chirping merrily away in a tree. I have no idea what sort of bird it is.

JBS, it's hard to tell from this pic, and not knowing your location means I'm guessing here, but this might be a Northern Mockingbird. They are colorful if one considers gray and white colors.  They are usually common in their range (basically most of the continental US, northern Mexico and Cuba and some islands) and sing merrily away in trees, and what they sing is usually other birds' songs. Their Latin name is Mimus polyglottos, very fitting for these excellent mimics! They are also brash, brave birds, and will mob larger birds (crows, hawks, etc.) to make them move on.

Here's a lighter photo of one:


Might that be your bird?

[owlice]

When my daughter gave me a window feeder earlier this year, I was doubtful that it would work, and indeed for several months all the birds studiously ignored it. Then one by one, a coal tit would dash in, grab some food, and dash out. It stayed like that for a while until one or two blue tits joined in. Today we had our first goldfinch (see below) and he didn't flinch when a coal tit joined in (see also below).

It's a great thrill to be so close to these birds. They are on the other side of the window, and we are inside, only 3 or 4 feet away. I've never been so close to a goldfinch as this, before. They never stand still of course, as ever! These are the dodgy best of about a dozen shots.

I'm glad the window feeder is a success! I put one up and all I got was a stretched-out squirrel lying down in it eating the seed as quickly as he could... until he knocked it down.

[JBS]

JBS, it's hard to tell from this pic, and not knowing your location means I'm guessing here, but this might be a Northern Mockingbird. They are colorful if one considers gray and white colors.  They are usually common in their range (basically most of the continental US, northern Mexico and Cuba and some islands) and sing merrily away in trees, and what they sing is usually other birds' songs. Their Latin name is Mimus polyglottos, very fitting for these excellent mimics! They are also brash, brave birds, and will mob larger birds (crows, hawks, etc.) to make them move on.

Here's a lighter photo of one:


Might that be your bird?

Might well be.
I'm in South Florida. If you want to be very precise, look for latitude 26 degrees on the east coast of Florida, go 12.5 miles west from the beach, and then turn and go 1 mile north, and then a further half block to reach my home.

[Elgarian Redux]

Might well be.
I'm in South Florida. If you want to be very precise, look for latitude 26 degrees on the east coast of Florida, go 12.5 miles west from the beach, and then turn and go 1 mile north, and then a further half block to reach my home.

I expect to arrive later this afternoon, Jeffrey, just in time for tea. (Two lumps please.)

[Elgarian Redux]

I'm glad the window feeder is a success! I put one up and all I got was a stretched-out squirrel lying down in it eating the seed as quickly as he could... until he knocked it down.

We don't often see squirrels in the garden. We think of that with disappointment, but maybe we shouldn't!

[Elgarian Redux]

@owlice:

After looking at your exquisite landscape photos, I was thinking again about this business of selecting a few images from a vast heap of junk, and I remembered an old barn down by the river here. It fell down sometime in the 1990s, and there's no trace of it now, but I was fascinated by it, and every day, for about a fortnight, I went down there with a graphite stick and a sketchbook, trying to draw it from as many different viewpoints as possible.

Day after day I went home with rubbish, but one day something quite different happened, and everything clicked into place, going so smoothly that I had almost no memory of actually making the decisions involved in doing the drawing. It was the best drawing I ever made - I felt I'd dug into the heart of the barn in its setting, and picked up the rhythms of the landscape.

The next day I tried again from a different angle, and again everything seemed to fall into place (see barn 2). And then, after that ... nothing. Every drawing after that was just scribbles on a page - really, really bad. I don't understand any of this. I don't understand why this drawing, this bird photo, this song, should just come out so well, and then everything else, just rubbish. But it happens, and the moments when it does seem to be of crucial importance, while the rest - the heaps of rubbish - just don't seem important at all, except as part of a necessary process.

[Iota]

.. They are also brash, brave birds, and will mob larger birds (crows, hawks, etc.) to make them move on.

Blimey, I can well imagine! From the look in its face, that Mockingbird's certainly not a bird to be messed with! 

Thanks for those excellent landscape shots too! You certainly get about, owlice! I must say it's great to be able to share in the fruits of your apparently endless energy and enthusiasm on these boards. : )

@owlice:

After looking at your exquisite landscape photos, I was thinking again about this business of selecting a few images from a vast heap of junk, and I remembered an old barn down by the river here. It fell down sometime in the 1990s, and there's no trace of it now, but I was fascinated by it, and every day, for about a fortnight, I went down there with a graphite stick and a sketchbook, trying to draw it from as many different viewpoints as possible.

Day after day I went home with rubbish, but one day something quite different happened, and everything clicked into place, going so smoothly that I had almost no memory of actually making the decisions involved in doing the drawing. It was the best drawing I ever made - I felt I'd dug into the heart of the barn in its setting, and picked up the rhythms of the landscape.

The next day I tried again from a different angle, and again everything seemed to fall into place (see barn 2). And then, after that ... nothing. Every drawing after that was just scribbles on a page - really, really bad. I don't understand any of this. I don't understand why this drawing, this bird photo, this song, should just come out so well, and then everything else, just rubbish. But it happens, and the moments when it does seem to be of crucial importance, while the rest - the heaps of rubbish - just don't seem important at all, except as part of a necessary process.

I really like those, Elgarian! Very evocative and full of character, the first one particularly so I thought. They're very different from your other drawings which seemed more in an illustrative style (though still very eye-catching), these seem more personal somehow. I felt I could identify very much with the feeling of attachment to such places that you describe, and which manifests for me very tangibly in the drawings.

[Elgarian Redux]

I really like those, Elgarian! Very evocative and full of character, the first one particularly so I thought. They're very different from your other drawings which seemed more in an illustrative style (though still very eye-catching), these seem more personal somehow. I felt I could identify very much with the feeling of attachment to such places that you describe, and which manifests for me very tangibly in the drawings.

Thanks ever so much for that positive response. Very kind.

I think at least 10 years separates these drawings from the earlier detailed studies of birds and plants. I'd stopped drawing altogether during the gap, but I discovered this thing called a graphite stick which put an end to any possibility of niggling, and made me start again, seeking a more summary, broader approach. So I found myself looking for broad rhythms in the landscape that expressed its character, rather than just accumulating detail. As before, the sketchbooks were soon full of the most awful scribblings, but just now and then something would come together. Maybe 1 in 20? Just looking through my folder, there are about three more (see below) that stand out from the others. But the old barn was my peak. (Or rather, my small hill!)

The rest ... oh dear, no. Art has always been a great mystery to me, from the 'doing' point of view!

[owlice]

I'm in South Florida. If you want to be very precise, look for latitude 26 degrees on the east coast of Florida, go 12.5 miles west from the beach, and then turn and go 1 mile north, and then a further half block to reach my home.

I expect to arrive later this afternoon, Jeffrey, just in time for tea. (Two lumps please.)

Do I feel a GMG road trip (well, air, too, for you, Elgarian!) coming on? 

Blimey, I can well imagine! From the look in its face, that Mockingbird's certainly not a bird to be messed with! 

They do look very stern! They sometimes -- strikes me as being during nesting season, but I may be wrong -- sing all night. I love to hear them.

Thanks for those excellent landscape shots too! You certainly get about, owlice! I must say it's great to be able to share in the fruits of your apparently endless energy and enthusiasm on these boards. : )

YW, Iota, and thank you for your kind words!

And also for expressing how I feel, too, as you did here:

I really like those, Elgarian! Very evocative and full of character, the first one particularly so I thought. They're very different from your other drawings which seemed more in an illustrative style (though still very eye-catching), these seem more personal somehow. I felt I could identify very much with the feeling of attachment to such places that you describe, and which manifests for me very tangibly in the drawings.

To which I can add only "ditto"!

I think at least 10 years separates these drawings from the earlier detailed studies of birds and plants. I'd stopped drawing altogether during the gap, but I discovered this thing called a graphite stick which put an end to any possibility of niggling, and made me start again, seeking a more summary, broader approach. So I found myself looking for broad rhythms in the landscape that expressed its character, rather than just accumulating detail. As before, the sketchbooks were soon full of the most awful scribblings, but just now and then something would come together. Maybe 1 in 20? Just looking through my folder, there are about three more (see below) that stand out from the others. But the old barn was my peak. (Or rather, my small hill!)

Elgarian, these are all wonderful!! Please double my ditto of Iota's comment, because it certainly holds here, too!

[owlice]

I promised a few birds. First, I'd like to share these two Arrow-marked Babblers. I cannot look at these photos without laughing! The story is in their eyes and body language; you may need to embiggen them to catch the tenor of their interaction.

[Elgarian Redux]

And also for expressing how I feel, too, as you did here: To which I can add only 'ditto'.
Elgarian, these are all wonderful! Please double my ditto of Iota's comment, because it certainly holds here, too!

It's lovely that you think so. Thank you. I wish I had a hoard of them, but that's the lot I'm afraid.

I realise that I've been way off topic, so I would like to point out that although there no birds visible in any of those sketches, I clearly remember that birds were present at each location.

[Elgarian Redux]

I promised a few birds. First, I'd like to share these two Arrow-marked Babblers. I cannot look at these photos without laughing! The story is in their eyes and body language; you may need to embiggen them to catch the tenor of their interaction.

Marvellous. The series invites captions, but I can't think of anything.

Or as PG Wodehouse would have it: The word goes around the clubs: 'Elgarian is lost for words.'

[owlice]

Inspired by Elgarian's comment "And essential context for your bird & animal photos: we need to know where you see these creatures - where and how they live.", which is very indulgent and kind of him, I went looking through photos for a few that include context. Ya know, landscape with animals. These were the most easily found:

Kitties!!


City kitties!! Nairobi is in the background; Nairobi National Park is right there in the city.


Ground Woodpecker. Does he look smug? He'd mated just minutes before.