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Buteo Hawks of North America

November 5, 2018 — Leave a comment

 

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Here’s five of the more common Buteo hawks found in Canada, Mexico, and The United States. All feed primarily on small mammals such as: Rabbits, voles, mice, squirrels, and prairie dogs. Insects, birds, and reptiles are also on their menu. All are frequently found in open areas. Grasslands, desert, and sparsely forested areas. Many have adapted to human habitation impacts and can be found hunting from a perch upon a utility pole along an urban roadside.

For more information about these birds definitely check out www.allaboutbirds.org

It’s one of my favorite online resources for raptors and other birds of North America.

I’d like to credit Floyd Scholz’s book “Birds of Prey” (Stackpole Books 1993.) as an indispensable resource in raptor illustration.

These illustrations are done in Micron pen and watercolor.

Thanks so much for looking at birds with me.

Rolling in ink.

May 31, 2016 — 1 Comment

I’ve been having lots of fun with some little linocut projects. Owls and Hawks mostly plus a few dinosaur sort of creatures. Its a bunch of fun, I really like the carving of the linoleum. It’s a slow but rewarding process. And so far I’ve kept the blade out of places it shouldn’t go, all 10 fingers still attached.

Again (again).

January 6, 2015 — Leave a comment

“Begging your indulgence, We’re going to do yet another song in the key of G”

-Bob Weir, The Grateful Dead

And so begging your indulgence I’m going to do yet another drawing in the key of Owl.

Thanks for bearing with me yet again while I move around the lines on the page.

And sometimes you have to sit on a chair miles away from a rainstorm and hope to see lightning strike the same place twice. With that stubborn persistence, it will. Tonight my personal case-in-point. I put pen to plywood again and got another Great Horned Owl that gave me chills like the one I met in Tahoe some years back.

The one is a map to the other.

The one is a map to the other.

Pandion haliaetus. (Osprey to you and me).

December 15, 2014 — 1 Comment
The Osprey is an incredible hunter. Sometimes called “River Hawks” or “Fish Eagles”. Their primary food is fish, which they spot underwater from hundreds of feet above.  Diving feet first into the water. Their curved talons and rough textured feet help them grip the fish. And in just a few wing beats it’s out of the water and heading home for supper.
It was over the course of last week I put this together. However it's been on my mind for the last two and a half years.

It was over the course of last week I put this together. However it’s been on my mind for the last two and a half years.

They are surrounded in history with legend.  I too have a few good tales to tell that has an Osprey drawn into it.

One summer not long ago. In a cluster of Jack-pine not more than a mile from the shores of Lake Superior…

How to build a crow while sitting on a chair.

December 1, 2014 — Leave a comment

I penciled this together last night after sketching crows and ravens over the last few nights.

Today after work I sat down before it with a pen and headphones.

It went like this.

Pencil work while watching cartoon reruns.

Pencil work while watching cartoon reruns.

The pen over the top of pencil has a nuance I'm not sure I can explain. But erasing the pencil after the pen work is outlined is something I really enjoy a lot in the process.

The pen over the top of pencil has a nuance I’m not sure I can explain. But erasing the pencil after the pen work is outlined is something I really enjoy a lot in the process.

I watch the wood grain and it helps me sort out where to draw the lines.

I watch the wood grain and it helps me sort out where to draw the lines.

An abstract crow/raven of sorts. I see crows all over town every day and enjoy them. They're fun to put to page as well.

An abstract crow/raven of sorts. I see crows all over town every day and enjoy them. They’re fun to put to page as well.

How to sit on a chair in California and draw birds.

January 16, 2014 — 2 Comments
Black and White Warbler

Black and White Warbler

Tonight I finished my 5 plates of Warblers. After I finished I went out for a bike ride in the night. I rode through town and out past some cow pastures. On my way I saw a great big Barn Owl on the wing. It flew silent over an empty lot. It seems like when a project or journey ends there’s some kind of remorse, but that owl reminded me my journey has just begun.

Red-Tail Hawk in flight as it progresses on the page.

Red-Tail Hawk in flight as it progresses on the page.

I’ve all ready started a few more birds of prey, like the Red-Tail shown here. I plan on making a series of various birds of prey in flight over then next few weeks.

Thank you for stopping by and joining me on my adventure in bird illustrations/life.