Brenda
Forum Replies Created
Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
-
I do a lot of observing from my dining room (faces the deck) and, invariably, the birds will come. I also have a cardinal pair (Mr. and Ma'am), as well as a lot of Woodpeckers - Downy, Red-Bellied, and Hairy. Most of the time, they pay little attention to me - as long as I keep the appropriate distance :) I also have a sit spot at one of the local parks where I can usually sit on a log, drink some coffee, and just let the birds adapt to my presence. I often monitor their chatter with Merlin so, when I finally look up for them, I know what I'm looking for. Here, I mostly hear songbirds, Cardinals, Flickers, and an occasional Brown-Headed Cowbird. Sometimes it's hard to be patient, so I avoid going to this sit spot if I have to be somewhere else.
-
As a beginning/novice birder, my goals right now are to recognize birds by sound and sight and to create lists to familiarize myself with as many species as possible. But, I am also a nature photographer (not just birds) by nature. Thus far, I've only been using my camera phone with a magnifier for binoculars, but I want to start upgrading (on a budget). As such, I think I will begin with a camera with a focal length between 500mm-600mm and a f/stop of f/5.6 or higher. I'm leaning towards a fixed lens to begin and maybe a teleconverter, rather than lugging around a huge lens. I mostly walk and hike when I'm birding (I don't own a car!), so portability is a key consideration.
-
I chose the Red-Tailed Hawk to research for a couple of reasons: 1) because they're cool and 2) they live very close to my house. I've never seen one in my yard, but I have seen one perched on the light post in front of my house. Last spring/summer, I was lucky enough to witness a juvenile mature over the summer. Once I established that I wouldn't harm or disturb him, he was content to have me around, to take pics, and to draw him. Now, the parents on the other hand, were not. While the hawk was still pretty vulnerable, they would swoop in and "poke" at him until he flew off with them. Never very far though. There are a cluster of trees that the hawks would just fly between. When I went looking for a hawk this morning, I went right to that area of trees. To my disappointment, they were not there; however, a little ways a way, I saw an adult gliding in. I found them perched on a tree, huddled (it's 11 degrees here) down. He was content to let me take pictures, draw him, and just observe him for 10-15minutes. I moved on (another bird caught my eye!), but he remained there. Though I'd had previous experience with this species before, doing the research gives me more specifics about mating patterns, what different flight patterns mean, and so forth, which will be helpful as I try to find some little ones again this spring!
-
Ironically, I've just spent the morning journaling and sketching the birds on my deck. So far, a single white-breasted nuthatch, a pair of dark-eyed juncos - which I just learned in the previous lesson are actually sparrows - three types of woodpeckers (Hairy, Downy (I think), and Red-Bellied), and a pair of cardinals - which I just learned in the previous lessons are finches! What an exciting morning :D
-
First experience with dry watercolors! It really takes some keen observation skills to catch how each individual color contains a few other colors. For example, when I painted the crown and head, I thought gray and white; however, as I got into it, I noticed there was also just a tinge of blue. I spent a lot of time with the pink because it is so subtle, but key part of the shape and form of the Hepburn. Here are the names of my colors: Steelfrost, Burnt Velvet, Unpopped Corn, Bubble Pop, and Streak of Pink. The last two are the pinkish-tinge, but in two different locations. Great activity!
-
Not too bad (though the belly is a bit fluffy!). I noticed as I got into drawing that I stopped worrying about drawing a sparrow, but the forms of a sparrow. I started to recognize how negative space influences the relationship of shapes and how the "landmarks" in perception allowed me to recognize when a shape was too high, too small, too big, etc. Fun exercise!
-
I love this!! Nice job :D
-
Okay, this is really bad, but I enjoyed the experience! It was difficult to stay focused when all I wanted to do was look down (which, I'll admit, I did once!). The most difficult thing for me is connecting the lines coming up and going down. I laughed a lot during this exercise :D
-
Nicely done! I also did not use watercolors (or markers) because I was afraid to mess it up. But, it didn't turn out too bad :)
-
Hello! I like elements from both the first and the last journals (and journals). I love the idea of boxes and zooms from the first journal and the follow-up research that the journaler did post-nature encounter. From the last journal, I love the idea of daily journaling; however, I am also realistic about time constraints. Luckily, I walk through a wonderful park nearly every day to get to work, so I can still see and experience nature daily. My thinking is to take a smaller journal for notes and then work on the larger pages when I have more time. So, like the last journaler, I'll probably do monthly pages from these smaller notes. From both journals, my intentions for my journaling is 1) learn more about nature (especially birds!) and 2) build a lasting document of these experiences to share with others. Very excited to get started!
Ironically, I've just spent the morning journaling and sketching the birds on my deck. So far, a single white-breasted nuthatch, a pair of dark-eyed juncos - which I just learned in the previous lesson are actually sparrows - three types of woodpeckers (Hairy, Downy (I think), and Red-Bellied), and a pair of cardinals - which I just learned in the previous lessons are finches! What an exciting morning :D 
Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)