End of June

Well, obviously I didn't do much better with the blog this past week. More reading I fear then drawing, though I did finish these Nature Journal pages and my usual weekly figure drawing.

The above page is from my visit last week to Cape Cod. It was a hot day and thinking it would be cooler down on the Cape I started early and ended up visiting several Cape locations. First was Fort Hill where I had first visited last summer. I didn't spend a lot of time there and didn't see anything particularly noteworthy. My next stop was to the Cape Cod National Sea Shore visitor center, where I inquired about Wellfleet Bay a MA Audubon site.  Turned out it was just a few more miles down the road so I went for my first time visit.

What a beautiful spot, I did more walking then I intended and wasn't always as observant as I would have liked, too hot. I now want to go back when it is cooler so I can enjoy it a bit more. The top two images on my page are both from Wellfleet Bay.

Top left is a drawing of the ground cover Bearberry with berry. The berries were mostly still green but here and there some were starting to turn red. Bearberry is a low growing evergreen ground cover, found on rocky or sandy undisturbed soil. I first saw this plant up on the rocky ledges of the Blue Hills many years ago. In the spring they have a small white flower. I was surprised to see so much of it growing at Wellfleet Bay along the edges of many of the paths.

The top right sketch is of a sand crab/fiddler crab. A naturalist had come out with a family with a couple of young children and had captured one of the crabs to show them what was making all the holes in the sandy path. I took advantage of this to make photographs of the crab, a male, as identified by the large left claw. The crab was only a couple of inches wide including legs. I tried to not intrude but I really wanted the photographs.

The bottom drawing was made from a photo made at the Cape Cod Canal park and is of 2 Double Crested Cormorants sitting on one of the light fixtures located along the canal edge. The birds like to sit on the lights to dry and rest between fishing expeditions in the Canal.

Above is my Journal page from Monday's visit to Daniel Webster. It was raining during most of this visit so I didn't go much beyond the blinds. Top image is the tree trunk in the Panne. I has been shifting around again, and now seems a bit further from shore than it was. It is possible that the naturalists have been out in the Panne moving things around, and maybe trimming some of the plants along the edge. I really don't know for sure. I had forgotten my field glasses so was only able to observe the areas of the pond that were close to me. Not a lot of see that day.

The lower image is of a grackle that landed on one of the branches that they have placed in the water near the blinds as perches for the birds.

Above is my figure drawing from Monday night. We had a good group of artists who showed up to paint or draw, and the pose wasn't quite as tricky as last weeks, thankfully. I am actually rather pleased with how this one came out. Even though the model was a bit twitchy.

The above photo was made at Wellfleet Bay and shows some of the estuary, with the bay waters in the distance. The tree to the right is a Pitch Pine, a common pine tree found on the Cape.

The photo above I made in my local city Park and is of St. Johns Wort a summer wildflower. I just like the colors of this, the bright yellows/greens against the gray granite. It is not a native wildflower but brought to America for it Herbal properties, still used by some.

That is it for today. Per usual comments are always welcome.