Category: Birds

Thursday, October 10, 2024 The “P” Birds

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Said the puffin to the penguin
You’ve got a lot of nerve
You waddle around pretending –
We know you’re not a bird!

Said the penguin to the puffin,
Oh goodness, just my luck –
I’ve met an orange-footed fop
Who thinks he is a duck.

Said the pelican to the penguin
Don’t mind this little puffin
He’s lacking in self confidence,
His ego needs some stuffin’

Said the puffin to the pelican
Oh look! A beak with wings!
You could rent that big mouth out
For critters to store their things.

Said the peacock to the pelican
Why bother with this ruffian?
Don’t you know better than
To trade insults with a puffian?

Said the puffin to the peacock
Look whose talking now?
A bird with eyes on his feathers
Is uglier than a cow!

Said the peacock to the puffin
Let’s settle this like birds
We’ll show off what we’ve got
And not rely on words

So the puffin flapped his feet
The penguin wore his tux
The peacock spread his tail
Which was so very deluxe

But the pelican was more clever
He made a wise decision
He opened his mouth wide
And swallowed them with precision.

I’ll probably swallow this post up tomorrow with precision.

Thursday, August 25, 2022 The Dancing Peacock

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I recently came across the oil painting I did as a wedding gift for my sister and her husband back in the day. It wasn’t as awful as I remembered, so there’s that. But it’s definitely up there with Weird Gifts. I think it’s safe to say that I was marching to the beat of my own drum. Since I mentioned it on a previous blog post, I thought it only fair to share it with you. (See The Puffin Post)

The best part is the way the peacock is dancing through the tall grasses, perhaps a wedding dance. His feathers are out, so you’ve gotta figure there’s at least peacock romance in the air.

My first and last oil painting, circa 1979.

I’m deleting this after doing the peacock dance in the tall grasses in the morning.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 Encourage Chickadees

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I mentioned on this blog that I wanted to do more knitting in 2021 and received a commission right away to work on two pairs of mittens for a friend of mine who donates them to an afterschool program for kids. This coincides nicely with my desire to use up my yarn stash, so I plucked a handsome little skein of yarn out and got the needles going.

I was sailing along smoothly until I realized that I had read the instructions wrong, starting the thumb a full three inches above the cuff. You’d think I might have noticed this as an error, but I didn’t think about it until I was way up on the hand and had a thought that either this mitten was going to have to be for someone of very unusual hand anatomy or I had to “tink” those 3 inches off the mitten. (Note: tink is knit spelled backwards – a knitting friend of mine introduced me to that charming way of referring to the process of unknitting.). I wish I’d thought to take a photo of that monstrosity, but you’ll just have to imagine it.

Progress was made.

One down, three to go! I’ll use a different yarn for the next pair, though.

In other artsy news, I had a dream recently in which someone was giving a series of 2-word imperatives. The only one I remembered when I woke up was “encourage chickadees.” Strange, I know. I’m not sure what this means, but one thing was clear: this must not be ignored.

Can t-shirts and mugs with this motto be far behind? It’s probably going to become all the rage and you guys can say that you were here at the beginning.

There you have it – Watercolor Wednesday!

I’ll probably delete this in the morning, whilst encouraging the wee little chickadees in our yard. They must really need it.

January 27, 2020 Puffin Post

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I think it’s time for the puffin post (should I call this a puffin piece?). At the beginning of the year, I decided to enroll in a course of my own making, called “Learning How to Draw Real Animals by Looking at Real Photos of Them.” This was to correct my lazy tendency to try to draw things from memory. When my sister got married, I was in college and decided that what she and her new husband really needed was an oil painting of a peacock done by yours truly. That’s wrong on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to start.

First of all, I’d never EVER painted using oils. With the careless abandon of youth, I forged ahead. Second of all, I didn’t even bother to look at a photograph of a peacock. I just fudged my way through it and came up with something that I’m not sure anyone would have been able to identify as a peacock, although I think it did look like a bird of some sort. Thirdly, nobody needs this kind of item as a wedding gift. At least it was a small painting. Fourthly, I’m sure it presented quite a social conundrum for them as to how and where to display this little monstrosity when I was visiting so as to reassure me that it was appreciated. As I recall, they found a little space on a wall between their refrigerator and some other large item – more space than it deserved, actually.

And so it has continued. When I want to draw something I haven’t wanted to hamper myself with the details. My speciality is stick figures, but this doesn’t tend to work well for animals. You may ask why I’m even bothering with this. Go ahead and ask. I don’t have an answer.

I started with owls and after a few weeks of that, moved onto puffins, penguins and pelicans. Here’s the puffin page:

I have no idea where to go with all of this, but it was worth it all just to find out that a baby puffin is called a puffling. Come on, you’ve gotta admit – that’s pretty darn cute.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

May 4, 2018 Nest

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Just a little something...“Just a little something I picked up for the new house – I know just where I want it to go!”

“I’ve got this eerie feeling I’m being watched?”

“Uh oh – I’ve been spotted. Stay still…stay very still.”

First of all, can you tell that these photos were taken through a window screen? I tried standing outside on the balcony to get an unobstructed view, but Mrs. Robin demurred to make an appearance with me right in plain sight. I just happened to see her yesterday when she was first checking out the place above the lamp as potential nest real estate. She hopped around up there, her little birdie feet slipping down every time she tried to get a purchase. It all looked rather precarious to me, but others of her kind have nested there before and perhaps the word had spread, even though we had removed last year’s model home when the occupants were done with it. Here’s an interesting thought: what if she was raised here last year? If so, she had to be rather puzzled about the disappearance of the old homestead.

At any rate, I’m impressed with her craftsmanship and look forward to watching her accomplish in about 8 weeks what took me 20+ years. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

April 25, 2018 The Right Sort of Bird

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Full disclosure: this is my copy of something I found on Pinterest, a way to practice watercolor painting.

Edmund: “But have you realized what we’re doing?”

“What?” Said Peter, lowering his voice to a whisper.

“We’re following a guide we know nothing about. How do we know which side that bird is on? Why shouldn’t it be leading us into a trap?”

“That’s a nasty idea. Still – a robin, you know. They’re good birds in all the stories I’ve ever read. I’m sure a robin wouldn’t be on the wrong side.”

C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

I’m just as sure that this bird wouldn’t be on the wrong side and wish I had a story to tell you about it.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

April 11, 2018 Face Off

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Using the telephoto lens again, this time from the kitchen window. Most of the shots weren’t that great, but I really like this one. I was pretty enthusiastic about it until I started zooming in on it so I could see the chickadee’s face. Then I realized it didn’t have one. I’m not kidding! It’s just a ball of fluff, feathers and legs. I find it hard to believe that my new camera failed to notice such an important thing as a beak and two little beady eyes when it was doing its autofocus thing. Of all the features on a creature (including a human), the face is the part you want to see the most, isn’t it? Faces tell us that we are beholding a creaturely thing. I don’t want to live in a world where chickadees don’t have faces. Better to let the camera be a liar. Let God be true and every man a liar, as the Apostle Paul said. That chickadee’s face is true.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

March 30, 2018 Robin, my Robin

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I realize that National Geographic will not be needing my photographic services any time soon, but I am so thrilled with this photo! This represents the true maiden voyage of the flagship Telephoto Lens. I’m not counting the photos I took of the tree on that first morning. This is actual Wildlife, doing Wild Things, like eating its Hapless Prey. I can almost hear Marlon Perkins narrating the dramatic action here as the robin ruthlessly tears into the tiny defenseless seed. It might have been even better had this robin been eating a worm, like a good robin should, but alas, I found a vegan robin and this will have to do. I’ve never looked this intently at a robin before, nor appreciated the craftsmanship of its design. Maybe this camera is giving me eyes to see. When I read “Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them,” I have to admit I was thinking more on the lines of majestic mountains, stunning sunsets, that kind of thing. But it’s all here in this exquisite little robin. I’m definitely delighting.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.