White-throated Sparrow with Snowflakes...

I think our little White-throated Sparrow has just settled himself for a long winter's nap.
(...or maybe he's watching for Santa!)

Wishing you the happiest of holidays

filled with love and cheer. 

Merry Christmas...and a Happy New Year! 

Winter Birds
White-throated Sparrows are one of our first winter birds to arrive in our back yard each autumn. Rick and I watch for them, along with White-crowned Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos as soon as the leaves start to turn colors and a chill hangs in the air. These sweet birds leave their nesting grounds up north and head south to live with us during the winter. They are special guests, and their musical calls and beautiful plumage brighten dull gray winter days. It's always exciting to spy the first to arrive for the season. This year, Dark-eyed Juncos won the contest, showing up on October 21. White-throated Sparrows were right on their heals, making their appearance on October 23. White-crowned Sparrows sometimes skip our yard altogether, but this year, they dropped in on November 14. We're still waiting for our musical little American Tree Sparrows to show. They usually blow in with a winter storm in January. With all the snow we've had in December, however, we were hoping they would show up sooner. We will keep watching. Maybe they will hitch a ride with Santa, and we will see them at the feeders Christmas morn...

Oh Sweet Canada...

Our little White-throated Sparrows have started singing their spring "Oh Sweet Canada...Canada...Canada..." love song, so even though we had snow last night and the temps are still very cold, I know spring isn't too far away. I always look forward to hearing the White-throated Sparrow's song. Their beautiful, musical whistles light up the air around them with cheer and make me happy. Soon they will be flying north to their breeding grounds, and we won't see them again until reds, yellows and oranges fill the trees, and we have to pull on sweaters and gloves...

Painting 130. White-throated Sparrow in (Anticipated) Spring

(Watercolor, 12x16 Arches Cold Pressed 140lb Paper)

This painting was an experiment. I wanted to create a textured background by pressing fern fronds coated in paint into the paper. It was fast, MESSY and fun. Don't try to identify the flowers, they are totally made up. I just wanted a color to help bring out the yellow eye patch on the White-throated Sparrow (and pretend it's really spring around here).

A Watery White-throated Sparrow

This is the same White-throated Sparrow that showed up in painting 127, but here he's flown to a sparser tree (instead of the tangle of branches), and he is perched high above me...looking down. It was an interesting sight because he was still puffed up for maximum heat insulation and could barely see over his fluffy chest and belly feathers. Snow had not accumulated on these unprotected branches, and the clouds were getting darker. Although I painted the branches tight, I decided to make the bird and sky watery and loose.

Painting 128. White-throated Sparrow in Winter

(Watercolor, 12x16 Arches Cold Pressed 140 lb Paper)

I painted the background with a single wash alternating between Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna (Daniel Smith watercolors). Working quickly, I used a watery brush with a heavy pigment load, going back and doting in pure color here and there to get the rolling cloud movement. If I had not masked out the bird and branches, it would have been much harder to achieve this result because I would have had to slow down and cut around the bird and branches. (I had already started to paint the branches before I thought about a scan to show the masked-out bird! :-)

Pencil sketch of the White-throated Sparrow

I didn't need much detail for this sketch because I knew I was going to make the bird watery and impressionistic.

Last year at this time I was only working on painting 17, so I'm 11 paintings ahead--yeah! If I have any free time, I'm up in the art room painting, and of course, if I'm waiting in the car or at on of Matty's practices, I'm sketching or painting. All the extra sketching time is really helping. I'm so glad I'm not afraid to paint and sketch in public any more.

White-throated Sparrow in a tangle of snowy branches...at dusk...

I saw this White-throated Sparrow back in January. I was at Pine Hill Lakes, a local park, "snowbirding" while Matty and his friend were snowboarding. This fellow was tucked so deeply into the branches it was impossible to photograph him, but I studied him for three or four minutes as he sat puffed up against the cold, knowing I'd turn him into a painting. It wasn't quite as dark as I painted it here, but the sun was starting to sink, and evening was falling hard--the cold biting bitterly and leaving my fingers practically numb.

Painting 127 - White-throated Sparrow in a Tangle of Snowy Branches at Dusk

Watercolor, 12x16 Arches Cold Pressed 140 lb Paper

To create the background, I masked out the branches and bird, and used a heavily pigmented wash sprinkled liberally with salt. I wanted the dark blue to convey cold and impending nightfall. As the wash dried, the salt crystals sucked up some of the pigment leaving a mottled design. I used many layers to create the dark, dark branches, trying to add to the feel of dusk. This painting tested my patience! I kept wanting to "just finish the branches already," but I would force myself to walk away and let the layer dry. The branches were vital to the design, so I couldn't hurry them along.

Pencil Sketch and Study of the White-throated Sparrow. If you look in the top-left corner, you can see I worked out the design back on February 14. This little White-throated Sparrow bounced around in my head for a long time.

I used this blurry ref photo to help me sketch out the painting, but I used my memories to create the "feel." I knew I wouldn't be able to get a good photo of him that afternoon, so I took extra time to study him. I wanted to remember how I felt when I saw him so my memories could drive the painting.

(I'm trying to decide if I want to add snowflakes to the painting...I would spatter them on to look like a gentle snowfall. It wasn't snowing when I watched this guy, but a few snowflakes might be in order!)

This painting is part of the 100 Painting Challenge. If you want to make art a regular part of your life...join up! This is my second year of the challenge. I'm working on 500 paintings in five years.

Remember the Breadcrumb Fairy?

...she still seems to be visiting Pine Hill Lakes!

A little Carolina Chickadee alighted in the pine tree that the good-hearted Breadcrumb Fairy always seems to toss buns under. Click here to see what the Breadcrumb Fairy brought last year (I still haven't seen who the fairy is...).

Chiggy is studying the ground beneath the huge pine looking for breadcrumbs.

He looks a little harder..."they have to be down there somewhere, they always are..."

It was late in the day, and the birds must have been busy all day eating what was there because the snow and pine needles had been well "bird-foot-raked," and nothing much was left to be seen--but after a little hopping around and kicking up snow, the birds always came up with something to eat.

Looking...looking...

Our little tan-striped morph White-throated Sparrow was thorough in his recon...

...looking some more...a snowbird's work is never finished...

It all pays off. He's just about to rake up a bite to eat.

A sweet Song Sparrow gets in on the action and is rewarded for his efforts too.

Oh Sweet Canada...

Although there's still snow on the ground, there's not much, and the sounds in the air are definitely beyond just a whisper of spring. Yesterday morning as I was sautéing red peppers and grape tomatoes (barely awake and definitely not paying attention to much but the egg I was about to crack into the frying pan), "Did I just hear a Red-winged Blackbird?" popped into my mind. It registered at that subconscious level that makes you stop and wonder, but after listening for a second or two, the second call came through loud and clear, and I said, "Alright!" out loud. Spring is here... When I looked out the kitchen window, two Red-winged Blackbirds were in the side yard looking for something to eat. Last year I started hearing them mid-February, so they are a little late this year, but all the other spring bird songs have been right on time, especially my favorite "Oh Sweet Canada, Canada, Canada..." love song of the White-throated Sparrow.

A tan-morph White-throated Sparrow puffed up to gargantuan extremes to weather out the snow that arrived over the weekend. My lens was spotted with wet snowflakes, which gave this photo a cool look. (The white morphs have black and white stripes on their head instead of the muted tan and brown shown in this bird.)

The tan morphs do not sing quite as much as the white morphs, but our little tan-morph male was singing beautifully while a wet snow came down all around.

This winter we have had a lot more tan morphs than white morphs at our feeders.

...although not quite as dramatic looking as the white morphs, the male tan-morph White-throated Sparrows help out with the nestlings, plus they don't start as many fights as their flashy brothers...

For more information on the White-throated Sparrow, check out this site, the White-throated Sparrow Project. You can also read about the genetic behavioral differences between the two morphs on The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds or The Birds of North America Online.

What has happened to our White-throated Sparrows?

The lilting song of “Oh Sweet Canada, Canada, Canada,” usually so ubiquitous in the spring at our house, is strangely missing, and the feel around here is empty because of it. The White-throated Sparrows usually stay around well into May, but I haven’t had any for at least three weeks. In February they were still here as described in this post of "Spring sounds are starting to pop up," but over night they vanished.

Rick took this photo last spring. This spring, the 

White-throated Sparrows have gone unaccounted for.

I don’t know if their early departure is from recent habitat destruction about a mile from our house, or if they just took flight north way, way early because they were tired of our digs. Has anyone else noticed diminished numbers, or is my yard’s population an anomaly?

I really miss these songsters. Spring is just a bit empty 

without their lovely song. I look forward to it every year!

Another bird missing from our ranks is the White-crowned Sparrow. We had a few in February, but they have disappeared early also. Their numbers are never as big as the White-throated and we only had a few popping up every now and then this winter. A couple years ago, they were regular visitors, but this year, they were more sporadic.

Rick also capture this shot last spring. No 

White Crowns have been around since February. 

A small woods was taken down in our area, and we lost 3 huge bushes around the feeders last autumn due to the drought, so maybe habitat destruction has something to do with it. Are they sensitive to Starlings? We had a very large flock move in late winter. The other birds don't seem to mind, but maybe they are more timid? I have no idea...but something is up.

…spring sounds are starting to pop up!

This morning I heard the spring mating song of the White-throated Sparrow, “Oh sweet, Canada, Canada, Canada.” In those liquid, silvery tones I felt my heart quicken just a bit knowing spring really was on the way. Three days ago, an American Goldfinch slipped into spring song too, and I stopped to listen, anticipating the coming season. I wait for these early spring sounds every year. As soon as I hear them, I know spring will return. Unfortunately, I only heard the White-throated Sparrow’s song once, a stark reminder that at 7 degrees F this morning, winter is still very much here.

The White-throated Sparrow’s song is beautiful and distinctive. It’s almost a whistle you can copy (but it never sounds as good!). As the days start to lengthen and the temperatures warm, they will sing more and more, trying to attract mates. Unfortunately, once spring is in full swing, they will leave our area for their breeding grounds up north and in central Canada, but until then, we get to listen to their beautiful song. Our white-throats are usually gone by mid to late May. It always seems a bit hollow those first few days when their wonderful song is missing from the yard.

Rick, hanging out of the basement window in the cold, 

captured this male White-throated Sparrow. 

What we won’t do for our birds…

The American Goldfinch also starts an early spring song as mating season kicks off, a harbinger of the warmer temps and milder weather in store, but even though they are starting to sing now, goldfinches are late nesters. They don’t start building their nests until the thistle seeds start to ripen, and in our area, that’s usually late June or early July. American Goldfinches use the thistle down to help build their nests, and they feed their young weed seeds and thistle seeds instead of insects like the earlier nesting songbirds. Timing their nesting season with the ripening of thistle seeds ensures their survival.

Larry found this guy in his backyard posing 

for him after the recent ice storm.

And as another reminder that winter is definitely still here, my girlfriend, Teri, sent me a photo of one of our local robins sitting patiently (waiting for spring, I think) in her crabapple tree.



…and then shortly before I was getting ready to post this entry, my cousin in Louisville sent me this shot of her robins in her crabapple tree. Apparently everyone is waiting for spring, no matter the locale, but I’m not sure patiently is the word for it!