Northern Hawk Owl, 2008
A new website for www.danderbyshire.ca will be launched in 2009.
February 21, 2009
Deep Freeze
Crunch time has arrived in planning for the spring and summer field seasons, which has frozen Fieldworks and the website in general. The process of developing new projects from scratch has been a great deal of work but also very exciting. We are looking forward with great anticipation to the coming spring and the official launch of Frontenac Bird Studies (FBS)! An overhaul of this website along with an official home for FBS will be coming soon so stay tuned for news and announcements.
The photo above was taken last evening on a windy walk with Raven to McNally Bay on Kingsford Lake. We didn’t see much but did come across what appeared to be an active bear den on the shoreline of one of its bays!
January 16, 2009
Catching Up
The infrequency (err..drought) of new content on Fieldworks lately has been an unfortunate result of recent time constraints. I’m painfully aware that dust and cobwebs have tended to accumulate between posts, but I still fully intend to make Fieldworks a proper blog (with posts and stuff), so please don’t delete your bookmarks just yet! Behind the scenes, I’ve been preoccupied with planning for the spring/summer field season, which has been very exciting (more on this later). On the artsy side, I’ve yet to put paint to canvas since before Christmas and am getting anxious to get that going again. As always, any new paintings will be promptly posted here. A sincere thanks for all the encouraging comments and especially to those of you who decided to purchase one (or two) of my paintings! Speaking of all things painting, I was saddened to learn that Andrew Wyeth, a giant in the world of realist painting, passed away today at the age of 91. It is difficult to find a good selection of his work online but some digging via google is highly recommended.
The winter, with all the time spent indoors, is the best time to discover new music. In the last couple of weeks I’ve found three great albums from the alt/folk/pop scene (if that is one). I’ve always appreciated this kind of sound but lately, it has really hit home. I suppose there is just something Frontenac-y about it- music to watch a frozen lake to……
Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
Iron & Wine- The Shepard’s Dog
Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes
A few pictures are included below just to spruce up the joint…..
Feeding frenzy on Canoe Lake Road! A 100+ finch coalition consisting of Common Redpolls, Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches are eating a hole through our grocery bil, and we thank them.
Common Redpoll
Raven spent the whole day at the vet yesterday for her spay and is back to her normal bouncy self
January 5, 2009
Out on the Ice with Raven
Our lake has been nicely frozen for several weeks now, perfect for skating, hiking and exercising a lab/border collie puppy. The ice is at least 7-10 inches thick in most spots, which is suitable for safe travel (relatively). The sounds of shifting and cracking ice are simultaneously awesome and unsettling but I gather quite normal!
A view toward McNally Bay from the shore of Frontenac Provincial Park. Northern Waterthrush, Black-throated Green and Myrtle Warblers were a few of the bird species that held territories in this little stretch.
Beech saplings in the snow
American Beech trees are especially recognizable in winter with their gray trunks and retained tan coloured leaves. Through a process called marcescense, some tree species (oak, ironwood etc.) have leaves with incompletely developed abscission layers at the base of their petiole’s. This layer (complete) is what causes leaves of other tree species to shed in the autumn. The Frontenac is loaded with these Beech trees, adding splashes of gold to the landscape.
Raven discovered this little saucer of ice perched on a rock, which must have remained in place when the dam was opened and the ice shifted.
This is a view from the park toward our house, which is roughly in the centre of the ridge.
In addition to Pine Siskins, Common Redpolls, White-winged Crossbills and Bohemian Waxwings have become daily encounters on Canoe Lake Road.
December 21, 2008
Blue Jay Study
9×12
Gouache and Graphite on Fabriano Acquarello Paper (Acid Free)
This study of a Blue Jay in flight was completed last week. These small paintings are essential for larger works in achieving a deeper understanding of the subject for the “final draft”. I’ve had an idea for a large painting featuring a jay bouncing around for a couple of months and hope to start on it in the new year. Blue Jays are the most abundant bird in the “neighbourhood” these days. We typically have between 20-40 individuals visiting the feeders on a daily basis and have seen as many as 16 individuals on the platform feeder at once! It would be hard to come up with a more attractive bird species in North America than the Blue Jay with their striking shape and vivid markings. This small study is for sale at my Etsy Shop, which you can access by clicking here.
December 15, 2008
Hairy Woodpecker Painting
Hairy Woodpecker
9×12
Gouache and Graphite
Fabriano Acquarello Paper (Acid Free/Archival)
The Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) is the most widespread woodpecker species in North America. They are often thought to be a close relative of the Downy Woodpecker because of the similarity of their appearance. The Picoides genus apparently needs some refinements as the Downy and Hairy are not closely related but have similar phenotypes due to convergent evolution. Hairy Woodpeckers, an area-sensitive species, do not flourish in small isolated forest pockets but rather require moderate to large tracts of forest where fragmentation is minimal. Here in the Frontenac Axis region of Ontario, Hairy Woodpeckers are abundant and we have a resident pair in our yard this winter. I spent an hour or so watching this male foraging along the trunks of cedar, basswood, and oak trees in search of insects. This painting was completed on December 13, 2008 and is available for immediate purchase at my Etsy Shop. Click here to view the listing and/or buy this original painting!
December 7, 2008
The View From Here-December 7, 2008
Oliver (left) and Merlin (right) birdwatching from the upper deck this morning. Merlin is obsessed with the outdoors. He is a bit like former Bears running back Gale Sayers who famously stated, “give me eighteen inches of daylight…that’s all I need”. However, in Merlin’s case, all he needs is about three inches of daylight coming through an open door and he is off!
Activity on this site has been slowing down in the past week as I anxiously await the installation of our high speed service on Tuesday. The dial-up internet has been painful and because my iMac has no modem to speak of, I’ve been forced to use Seabrooke’s computer since moving here in August. Having my own computer at hand with a better connection will mean I can finally set up the site the way I wanted and post more regularly.
November 30, 2008
New Painting – Northern Hawk Owl
Northern Hawk Owl
16×24
Acrylic on canvas
This painting has been in the works since 2005! I never seemed to have enough time to finish it until recently. I’ve always been inspired by the masterful paintings of Carravaggio, in particular, his use of chiaroscuro lighting. I don’t think that this directional lighting is used very often (if at all) for wildlife subjects, however, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to try it with an owl and I’m pleased with the results. Some details and feather textures were lost in the above image from photographing in glare-free light. Even so, you may notice some gray areas in the background, which is just glare captured in the photo.
I’ve already started on another one of these, which will be of a larger scale and a different owl species. This painting is for sale at my Etsy Shop. Click here if you would to view the listing and/or purchase the painting.
