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!

LOTS of sketching in nature lately...

Fox Squirrels and Gray Squirrels

March 1st has always been a day I look forward to -- my unofficial first day of spring when I feel confident that I can put the worst of the winter weather behind me and anticipate the spring flowers pushing through last year's layer of damp leaves. Alas, this year's March 1st was still covered in snow and the temperatures were far from being springlike. But the birds sang on and the squirrels foraged under our bird feeders, blissfully unaware of my unfulfilled expectations.

details

Sometimes I like to pay attention to the small stuff...

My various magnifying lenses came in very handy...I couldn't even see the hairs on those weed seeds until I looked at them under magnification...

fox squirrel, today

fox squirrel, today, originally uploaded by Cathy (Kate) Johnson.

This one was much larger than the little gray squirrel yesterday...since I was working on tan paper I decided to push the color. The warm, dull reddish brown is called "fulvous,: but I used two shades of orange instead! A big of black cherry, burnt umber, dark gray and touches of black and I was happy with him. I used a bit of pale blue to suggest his shiny, healthy fur reflecting the sky...

I didn't get to watch him as long though...he greedily noshed on the ears of Indian corn I put out, and then ran off. It's usually fox squirrels who make off with the whole cob, or strip most of one. The little grays daintily take one kernel, eat the germ and leave the rest. (No wonder they're smaller!)

Trapped in the Shed by a Gray Squirrel

(OK, not really trapped, but I didn't want to leave such a wonderful sketching opportunity...) He came cautiously down the tree, then peered around the vine, then stood at attention near the platform feeder until he was SURE the coast was clear.

Normally when I reach for my pencil the squirrels scatter, but not this time. I got to do a LOT of quick sketches in various mediums...soft graphite, ink, a mechanical pencil...

I've been told that gray squirrels and fox squirrels won't inhabit the same territory, but no one's told the squirrels!

Squirrelly Day

Squirrelly Day, originally uploaded by Cathy (Kate) Johnson.

Last Saturday was warm and sunny...a wonderful day to sit out by the fire and observe wildlife!