Of Kissing Cormorants and Other Things

First, though, before I get to the birds, here is Truman at work yesterday asking me WHY I forced him to spend a day away from his sofa:

Silly dog.

On our walk in to work via the Montlake Fill, we spied the usual Double-crested Cormorants hanging out on the soccer field lights:

One pair engaged in a bout of bill touching -- from what I've read, it is a sign of affection.

You can see a short video of the bill-touching display here:

In case that doesn't work, you can also view it on on my Flickr site by clicking here.

Here is a view from our walk, which makes for a very pleasant stroll to and from the office:

On our walk home from work, we saw many fine herons, the usual Marsh Wren singing from the top of a cattail, and the female pheasant that's been at the Fill since last summer, which came out from the brush to cross the trail:

For some reason, the phrase "Why did the pheasant cross the road?" popped into my head.  Probably for the same reason the chicken does, I expect.

The forecast today is for 60s and sunshine.  Hope I get a chance to enjoy it during my lunch break.

Birthday Dogs

Today is Truman's THIRD birthday!  My, how time flies.

That's the Trumanator when he was five months old.   And here he is from last weekend, at Hidden Lake in Shoreview Park:

"I own this lake!  This lake is mine!"

"Wait a second...what are those ducks doing here?  They are in MY LAKE!  I will go explain things to them."

The ducks explain things to Truman instead.

"Stoopid ducks.  Think they own everything around here!"

Meanwhile, today is also Winston's third birthday -- and Winston and Truman are still the best buds ever:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TRUMAN AND WINSTON!

A bird, some mountains, and a drawing of a bird

That's what you put up for a title when you can't think of a post title.

First up, the Cinnamon Teals have returned from their wanderings to hang out at the Montlake Fill:

Always a favorite, with that lovely color.  Connie and I also spied our first Orange-crowned Warbler of the year there, flitting about with the Yellow-rumped Warbler crowd.  Most of the wintering waterfowl have flown away, and to help make up for their loss, more and more swallows arrive every day.  We've had Violet-green and Tree Swallows but are still waiting for the first Barn, so keep an eye out!

Next, "some mountains" are a view of the Olympics that I got this past weekend from Carkeek Park:

What a fabulous place I live in, where these sorts of things are just hanging out in my city's backyard.

And lastly, more art!  Last night I decided to try drawing in pencil for a change, and chose a juvenile Ruff that I snapped a pic of last autumn up in the Skagit.  I just finished it this morning:

And now I'd better get ready for work....yay....

What you don't usually get to see

Someone Who Shall Not Be Named asked why I hadn't posted any art for oh, all of six days now.  This is, after all, my Year of Art, and doesn't that mean sketching or working on a painting every single day?

Why, yes it does!  And so I have.  However, just because I sketch something or work on a painting every day doesn't mean the results are worth sharing.  And that's a good thing, because it means I still have plenty of stuff to learn, lots more practice to engage in, and lots of artistic challenges to meet.  Otherwise it would be pretty darned boring, don't you think?

Anyway, I have done stuff every day.  Here are things I did not post but am posting now so you can all see why I didn't post them, and maybe I'll just keep posting whatever I did every day, even if it's merely a 30-second sketch of Truman Sleeping (my go-to drawing when I haven't done anything else by the end of the day).

First, an ink drawing of an owlet, done from a photo on the lovely calendar Mary gave me for Christmas and that hangs on my office wall, the only drawing I did that particular day because it was raining:

I did not post this because it is a little messy and I couldn't get the eye right.

Next is the top of one of my bookcases at home, drawn because it was raining:

I did not share this because it is just a quick sketch of a not-terribly-interesting subject.

And here is a drawing of the treats on the table at a staff meeting, done because I was bored waiting for the meeting to start, and also, it was raining:

I didn't post this because I just didn't feel like it.

You may have noticed a trend here regarding the weather.  I like to draw outdoors.  The stuff I find to draw outdoors is much more interesting to me than the stuff I find indoors, all in all.  Unless I'm inside the Burke Museum.  Thus, when it rains, and I can't draw outside, I do a sketch of whatever is in front of me inside and call it good for the day.  And those things, as you can see, are not generally worth putting on the blog.   Also, the muffins were poppyseed and I don't like poppyseed muffins.

Finally, I also spent the last week working a bit every evening on a watercolor landscape of a Kubota Gardens scene that Did Not Turn Out.   What happened was, there was too much green everywhere.  I should have de-emphasized the greenery in back and emphasized some up front, but by the time I realized it, there was no way to fix it.   Oh, and the rocks are ill-defined, and I could fix that, but this I won't because this is now becoming Scratch Paper (the back side can be used to test color mixes on):

And to think that some people claim that greens are hard to mix.  Hah.  Oh, well.  So it goes.  I do rather like this small section:

There you have it -- why I haven't posted any art for a week.  This coming week I am hoping to get outside!

A Stroll at the Montlake Fill

Yesterday I got to hang out at a meeting held at the UW Waterfront Activities Center, and when lunch time came, I got to eat it outside with a view:

While I sat there eating, Tree Swallows were flitting about, and then two of them landed on a branch nearby:

I had some time after eating and before returning to work to stroll around, and this happens to be the back side of the Montlake Fill -- lucky me!  First, I found the usual Great Blue Heron:

Meanwhile, the Double-crested Cormorants were hanging out on the soccer stadium light standards, and one pair had a noisy meet and greet session:

Then they did a bit of bill-tapping:

And then they told their nearest neighbor to get lost:

On the way back I paused by one of my favorite views, and noticed a Common Merganser on a log.

I zoomed in for close up shots.

This is a merganser yawning:

Not a bad way to spend a lunch hour at work.

Dinnertime!

Well, at the moment I'm writing this, it is actually breakfast time, but I have photos from Tuesday's post-work stroll through the Fill, where I encountered some birds eating dinner.  First, here is a coot looking for dinner:

Dinner is found:

And here we have a Pied-billed Grebe that has already located its dinner, a small fish called a sculpin:

But it is a bit large and ungainly, and unlike my dinners, trying to fight back:

It's a losing battle, though.  Pied-billed Grebe: 1, Sculpin: 0.

 Bon appetit!

Birds galore

Yesterday morning I walked through the Montlake Fill on my way in to work, where I spied Connie Who Practically Lives There.  She showed me an Anna's Hummingbird on her nest:

I couldn't find it again on the walk home -- it's very well hidden!  But I did find Great Blue Herons galore -- they do seem to be nesting on the campus again, as there was a heron about every fifty feet.  This one ignored the Canada Goose landing nearby:

Just hanging out, not much bothered by people strolling past....

Here a heron, there a heron, everywhere a heron...or two....

And then as I was zooming in on one of them, a cyclist came round the bend and startled the bird into flight -- and I pushed the shutter before I could zoom out.  This is what I got:

Heron feet!  Aren't they fabulous?

Not too much farther along, another heron took off while I wasn't zoomed in, so I was able to get a proper take-off shot:

What a beautiful place, full of wonderful birds.