Sketching with an Eagle...

Sketching with a rescued eagle...

This magnificent bald eagle was injured in the tornado that destroyed his nest near Smithville March 6–his wing is broken.  He was brought to Pete Rucker, our vet for many years and a wildlife rehabilitator who has spent countless hours rescuing the wild things that have been injured or sick or orphaned.   

The bird appears to have made its way on foot 300 yards from where its nest had been, to the middle of the road, where it was seen by Good Samaritans who then called the Department of Conservation for aid.  Clay County Department of Conservation worker Brian Bartlett delivered him to Pete night before last, where he received excellent care, had X-rays, and had his wing bandaged to immobilize it pending possible surgery.

I happened to hear of all this through sheerest serendipity, and was allowed to spend a bit of time alone with the great bird.  The staff at the Excelsior Springs Animal Clinic kindly moved furniture so I could be close, and brought a chair so I’d be comfortable–bless them! 

Joseph asked if I wasn’t going to take my drum, and I am so glad I did.  I stood by the cage drumming as softly as a heartbeat, and it seemed to calm or relax him...his eyes gently closed as I drummed and he nearly went to sleep. There is nothing quite like being so close to the wild, and interacting quietly and almost intimately as the bird relaxed...I was healed as well. 

We sent up healing prayers together, and I made a small offering of tobacco and herbs–and sketched.

The green bandage keeps his fractured wing immobile.

wide awake...

beginning to drowse...

nearly asleep....

This morning the pair, man and bird, were on the way to Columbia in the snow to deliver the eagle to a raptor rehabilitation facility in hopes that it will eventually be able to be released back into the wild.  The news looks hopeful and the wing will likely be pinned to allow it to heal properly.  The staff there have named the eagle Dorothy...but as we don't actually know whether it is male or female, I still call him "Twister"...

What a gift.  I had never been closer than 15 feet to an eagle, another injured birds at Eagle Days–and never alone.  Powerful blessings.

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For more on the eagle rescue, this link to an interview with Dr. Rucker will be good for a while...
http://www.kmbc.com/article/bald-eagle-injured-in-smithville-tornado-to-go-through-rehab/9120417

Feeder Birds

Quick sketches of various birds, and our very colorful female cardinal

LOVE my cardinals!  I counted 17 the other day...

The yellow shafted flicker is more rare to my backyard...I've only seen the male once this year, but the female shows up frequently, if briefly.

I'm always delighted to see purple and house finches together.  We see a lot of house finches but not so many purples.

Winter is such an active time at our feeders, and I'm very grateful we can afford to care for our little cousins!  They pay me back by modeling...

Sooo...why do they call these "goldfinch"?

This guy looks like he should be called a lemon finch, or a jonquil finch...

And they're not QUITE in full summer yellow yet, but some are almost there...this one still has a bit of olive-y on his back and belly...

(NO idea why Blogger is making this so gray...it looks fine in the scan, with a nice white background...)

(NOTE to self and anyone else who's having issues: I did fix it, it was a Google + issue--unchecked "enhance graphics" and all is well.  Gee thanks, Google.)

Birds at the Shed!

VERY fast sketch of the pileated woodpecker that visited the other day...along with one of my "gratitude" lists...

Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Mound City, MO

An exciting visit to Squaw Creek, just before the snow...we saw millions of geese, 400+ swans, and I don't know how many eagles on the refuge...

And here's my video on YouTube, which I forgot to post! >

Woodpeckers!

We have a variety of woodpeckers...downies, hairies, red-bellied like this guy, the occasional yellow-shafted flickr, and once even a pileated woodpecker.  No red-headed woodpeckers, though they are abundant in the nearby state park.  I had fun sketching these guys...

Deck Decor, Revisited

So who says you have to stop working on a page!  I noticed the box elder seeds yesterday, and added them to the decor...

Deck Decor

The squirrels and birds have been decorating my deck with bits and pieces of what they're feeding on--lots of tree buds and hackberry fruits, it appears!

Sketching Nature...outdoors and in!

I'd always heard that gray squirrels and fox squirrels wouldn't share territory...ours sort of do, but not necessarily happily!  What did surprise me was that the smaller gray was the victor.

And even though Norman is now an indoor fish, I find watching and sketching him still fits my definition of nature as it interacts with man.  Most interesting!

New Year's Day at the Shed

I had the chance for a day of watching our feeder birds and trying to capture them as quickly as possible.  I added color mostly from memory, except checking on our little house finches--I would have forgotten that reddish rump!

We have 11 feeders plus what I throw on the ground out the front of the shed,  and 5 more behind it, so we get a wonderful population of birds.

A very satisfying way to start the year...and yes, following Sandro's and Paula's bird sketches felt quite bold!

LOTS of sketching in nature lately...

Signs of the Season

Every year, spring and fall, my trees are full of migrating blackbirds.  Usually red-wings, but this time most seemed to be grackles.  They were feeding on the basswood berries high overhead, chattering, flitting from here to there, and then--flew off in a great flurry of black wings.

Anybody have an idea what's wrong with this guy?

He had almost no feathers on his head...just the one sticking up, dark skin and little white quills sticking out on his neck.  I'm assuming something like lice.

We've had a cardinal in similar condition, and a wren that didn't look too great...

I don't know if this is the same jay or not...if so, looks like his feathers are coming back!  I couldn't get a very good photo, unfortunately.

Not sure if this could be drought stress, pests, or what...poor things!

Mystery Fungus?? Gall?? What...?

We had a delightful picnic the other day at Watkins Mill State Park, in the deep, cool woods.  This has been an amazing spring...if it were like this every year we would be crowded with people wanting to move here!

After we ate, Joseph read and I sketched...I'd put brown ink in the cartridge of my little Carbon pen, and loved it for its ultra fine nib.  It let me really zero in on the leaf and the strange, colorful bits with their star-like opening--fungus, gall, insect nest?  You tell me!

They reminded me of miniature Earth Star mushrooms...

Mourning Doves and their family...

It's been lovely having mourning doves in the yard, lately...around here they're more likely to be in more suburban or rural areas.  Being able to watch them so closely reminded me how similar they are to the extinct passenger pigeon.

I recently found this rough sketch, left, on the back of an old bank deposit slip...I did research years ago for an article for Country Living Magazine, and drew on what I had with me!

Goldfinches!

We have a LOT of American goldfinches at the shed this year.  I've never had the opportunity to see so many, so close, and it's interested to see them in mid-moult, from winter colors toward spring. 

In a month or so, this little guy will be bright yellow in the places he now shows an olive-y brown, and he'll wear a jaunty black cap that's just now coming in, a few feathers at a time.

They're amazingly bold little birds, taking over the feeders and refusing to give ground, fussing among themselves, and staying put when I go in and out.  Very much UNlike the chickadees, which seem to travel mostly alone, and do a quick snatch-and-run!

Bits and pieces...

I'm still a big kid...I'm fascinated by small things, close up, nose-to-nose--if a branch HAD a nose...

This branch blew down in our recent winds--I knew the woodpeckers had been active, but I didn't realize HOW active till I was able to see this up close...and lots of ear fungus along the branch, too.

Wood ear, tree ear, jelly ear--whatever you call this dark brown fungus, it apparently grows
almost worldwide, and is considered edible, in some areas.  (It's an ingredient in traditional moo shu pork.)  I'm big on wild foods--even wrote a cookbook about it when dinosaurs roamed the earth--but I have to admit these have never made it to my dinner plate.  They're kind of cold and clammy and just not that appetizing...anyone tried 'em?

And I couldn't resist sketching the bittersweet that came down from the highest branches at the same time...my mom used to love these bits of natural beauty, and I must have inherited it from her.  My usual source of bittersweet is gone now; the fencerow where it grew every year has been bulldozed away, so I was delighted by this gift of the wind.

The birds have been enjoying the berries, as well...only one left on this little sprig!

Trumpeter Swans

I headed out to Cooley Lake today to see if I could find the swans my friend Phil Jeffries photographed the other day...sure enough, I did, but couldn't get really close. It was cold and very windy, so I sat in my car to sketch these huge birds...

This is the view from my Jeep "studio."  If you look close you can see the swans out there in the mudflats.

I couldn't see that well, even with my little binoculars, but this was my start, with my old rehabbed Winsor & Newton sketch kit.

A bit further along, working in cramped--but warmer!--conditions.

I managed to get some decent shots with my new Canon, which is what I used to work from  on the right hand page of this spread.  Even with the binoculars I really couldn't see much.  The camera did a much better job!

I'm glad Phil got such a great photo of the immature swan...if it had been younger, the beak would have retained some pink color, so it much have been almost fully grown.

Thank you, Phil Jeffries, for sharing this wonderful photo...Phil's photographs are often in Missouri Department of Conservation publications.

Trumpeters are returning to their historic territories, from the brink of extinction...they were very rare only a few years ago.