going going gone

Well finally it does look as as if the Hobbies are finally on their way.  All three juveniles still camped out in their favourite two oaks mid-week, but only two yesterday and one today.   But the last one still seems to be doing nicely- skimming low over the sugarbeet field to pluck Willow Emerald Damselflies out of the riverside hedge.  Tense moment when a presumed migrant juvenile Peregrine drifted in from the north:  here's a digiscope of the young Hobby looking up and keeping an eye.

Time to head south!

Meantimes one last Hobby painting for the season- hopefully some sense of lazy late September, with the ash beginning to turn to autumn

branching out

The young Hobbies are racing ahead in the fine weather:  whizzing about, chasing butterflies and generally enjoying these early autumn days.

I wouldn't claim to any serious digiscoping skills, but its startling to see how much detail you can capture these days from 300 metres + .  Google maps tells me it is 365 metres from my watchpoint to the base of their tree, but that little pencil-thin eyebrow still carries all the way, so long as there's no heat haze.

A distinct improvement in viewing conditions today as they've set up camp in a stag-topped oak close to the footpath.  It's certainly a different digiscoping proposition!

But enough of digipics- it's time for a painting of the gang of 3:  here's a working-out of bird 1 preening and hopefully birds 2 and 3 to follow.

Hobbies Hobbies Hobbies

It's been that wonderful week when Hobbies fledge and all is chaos around a selected hedgerow oak. Here's my local male, who has the happy habit of sitting up on a dead branch and catching the low morning sun as I motor past on the way to work first thing.  So it would be rude not to stop and wish him good morning.  Happy days!

Hobby

I saw the female whip in a couple of evenings ago, pass a dragonfly to a juvenile who dropped it, at which she flipped into a loop, caught and re-presented it with silky ease;  just perfect.  Here's a long distance digivid. of some action, just for atmosphere:   Hobby vid.

stepping out

I'm slightly trapped for technique at the moment- not sure whether to stick with wet and splooshy painting, with the light shining through from the unpainted canvas or paper, or press on with something more like an oil-painting method and paint in the lights with thick and creamy colour.

Here's a bustard from the Hungary trip, looked promising when mapped out in wet, but hasn't quite turned out as richly as I had hoped in the final version.  Still a marvellous beast though, as stately and monumental as the church behind.

Great Bustard, Kiskunsag

Redfoot continues

So I've finally managed to crack-on and get the Redfoot done

The bird has turned out as I had in mind, but not too sure about the background- should be a nice dappled, hazy poplar in the wind, but looks a little like someone is running lettuce through a blender.

PS:  a quick edit to show show one more shot introducing some haze into the central area.  Time to leave it alone and move on!

Red-footed Falcon, Kiskunsag

Redfoot

Here's some work in progress- a Red-footed Falcon from a long weekend in Kiskunsag, Hungary at the end of May.  As usual I'm racked with guilt for doing too much birding and not enough sketching on my annual jaunt to E Europe, but I did sit down with this fellah for half a day and work out on the spot what I wanted to paint when I got home- first and second images.  Then the third image is the beginnings of a working-out on canvas, now I am back.

His chosen clump of poplars held a brood of fledged Hooded Crows top left, two pairs of Redfoots middle and some young Kestrels still in the nest bottom right, plus the wind was blowing.  So full of movement and noise: lots of billowing leaves to be added.

Red-footed Falcon, Kiskunsag;  work in progress

.

out of the Woods

It looks like spring is finally done, so here's a shot at capturing the Wood Sandpiper highlight and moving on to pastures new (big rolling ones in Hungary- for another post).

I'm currently painting with a thinned acrylic underneath layer, then with tricky decisions about how far to add thicker paint on top and how far to leave the initial underpainting well alone: hopefully tis one hasn't been wrecked in the final stages.