They're back!

While I'm always sad to see our short, sweet summer come to an end, I do welcome back the chickadees.  I heard their melodic and soft songs as I drank coffe on the deck the other morning.  They were greeting me and each other in the big spruce tree where they hid and ate sunflower seeds all last winter.
Research has shown that chickadees can remember over 6000 hiding spots for their seeds.  That's pretty remarkable for a tiny bird.
Watercolor and pen in Moleskine sketchbook, from a newspaper photo.

EDM 125 - Chipping Sparrows

These little Chipping sparrows frequently come to nest in the big spruce tree in the back yard. They are quite small, and quite noisy. Chipping refers to the sound they make which is not very melodious. They perch on the very tips of the long branches and loudly taunt the cat for being too slow and fat to catch them. They are native to this province, but they are usually only around in the summer. They have bright rufous caps that often stick up like little cowlicks. My bird book* says they prefer to build their nests using black horsehair if they can get it, but any hair will do. I've not found their nest yet, although they usually nest at eye level in the fork of a coniferous tree. Best of all, they love to eat "adult and larval invertebrates" which includes mosquitos. I love to draw birds so I really enjoyed this challenge. And sparrows are so cheerful and resourceful that they are one of my favorites. This was done with Pigma pen and watercolors in the Aquabee sketchbook.

* Birds of Alberta by Chris Fisher and John Acorn

Illustration Friday - Wired

I painted this from my imagination, using some reference photos of magpies. It's not the best I've done, but I had fun doing it. I like the idea of it and I wanted to try to convey the irridescence of the magpies' tails. This is with watercolor in my Aquabee sketchbook.