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.

Drawings and New Nature Journal Page

Thankfully it is cooler today, our three day heat wave broke last night when some thunderstorms came though. I had spent 2 days this past week either at the park on the Cape Cod Canal, or on the Cape where the temp while hot wasn't quite as hot as it was at home.

Above is a sketch I made while at the Canal Park. The view shows part of the canal and the Sagamore Bridge, which is the northerly of the two vehicle bridges that cross the Canal. Three bridges and the widening of the Canal were built by the Army Corp of Engineers in the 1930s, with the bridges opening in 1935. I have thoughts of turning this into a pen and ink drawing, but so far haven't started work on it.

Above is a sketch that I made last night based on a couple of photographs I made this spring. I say two photographs as while the boy was feeding this unusual goose I didn't get a photo with both in it.

I am rather pleased with how this came out considering I didn't really spend all that much time on it (maybe 2  hours)

Both photographs were made in my local Town Park where they permit the feeding of birds (Seagulls, mostly Canada Geese and Ducks). I like photographing there as most of the birds have lost some of their fear of man and I can get quite close to them with the camera. Not sure what breed this animal is, I think a pet that someone released to the wild. The dark area on the head/face is red skin such as you would see on a Chicken and the feathers are white if anyone has a guess I would love to know.

I have started a new Nature Journal, this one has a different shape and different paper from my original book. I was unable to find another blank book like that one so had to make do with this. I am not totally happy with it, the paper takes ink a bit differently and it will probably take me a bit to adjust. Also because of the new size (7 x 7 inches squares) the whole spread doesn't fit on the scanner. Meaning all I will be showing of this Journal is the drawings, but please understand that I am continuing with my notes as before.

These images are from my outing at Daniel Webster on Monday. Monday was a lovely day, not too hot, though I would have liked a bit more sun. Images in the Journal are top the flowers of the Winterberry bush. They are small white flowers in the leaf axials.

Bottom image is of a ladybug on a grass leaf. I was looking at some thistle flower heads that weren't quite in bloom when I noticed this ladybug crawling on the grass stem. I am not totally pleased with how it came out, as I mentioned I need to get used to applying ink to this new paper. As with the other book what I draw totally depends on what I see, and what I find interesting on that day.

Above is my best photograph (so far) of a male Bobolink in the grasses at Daniel Webster. He is still in his breeding plumage, with a buff cap on his head and white down his back. I am not sure I have ever even seen one of the females who look totally different. Maybe if I spent more time in the fields watching I would see one, after all they are breeding at Daniel Webster so have to be there. Seeing female bobolinks is about like seeing female Red Wing Black birds, not usually done, though those I have been seeing at the Panne (pond) this year.

My second photograph today is of the Ladybug I used for my drawing. I found it hard to depict the red without pulling out my colored pencils. Maybe I should have done that.

That is it for today, hopefully I am now back up to speed and will be back to my twice weekly updates. In the meantime comments are always welcome.

Last Day of Spring

Officially summer starts this evening around 7:30 p.m. the time of the summer solstice when the tilt of the earth puts the sun at its most northern point in the sky, after today the period of sunlight will start getting less, though for us here in the northern Hemisphere summer has just begun. That said today is going to be a hot one here in the Northeast with temps well into the 90's. I am not looking forward to it.

Sorry for the lack of a second update last week. I am drawing, just not a lot, for the first time in several years I just didn't feel like pushing myself to draw so I would have something to post. Still I have been working on the Nature Journal and with these 2 spreads I have finished the book I was working in, on Monday I actually started in a new book. It feels good to have finished a Journal. It has taken me almost a year to fill the pages with notes and drawings as I started keeping it last August. I have to say I am very pleased with how it has come out, and I really enjoy looking back at past entries and comments.

The above spread is from my visit to Daniel Webster a week ago Monday. That day I split my afternoon between the North River Sanctuary and Daniel Webster, both in Marshfield, MA. The bottom image is of Partridge-berry flowers I found at North River. I drew their berry/seed last fall, but was able to photograph some blooms on Monday. This is a ground cover found in wooded areas here in the Northeast, the flowers are small only about a 1/2 inch in length so they were a bit tricky to photograph. The two flowers will produce a single joined berry, which is a bit unusual.

The top image is of a female wood duck who is stretching her wings after having a bath in the pond. She was really too far away from me for me to make a good photograph, But it has been fun for me to watch them with the glasses out in the middle area of the pond. As far as I can tell they have 2 surviving young, which I see occasionally.

The above spread which is the last one in the Journal is from my visit down to Attleboro over the weekend. I visited two locations, Attleboro Springs and Oak Knoll both MA Audubon sanctuaries. The top image is of a Sycamore leaf. The tree is found at Oak Knoll along the edge of the parking area. At first glace these leaves look like a Maple leaf, but the trunk of the tree is so entirely different looking that I knew it wasn't any kind of Maple.

My bottom image is of a garter snake that I came across at Attleboro Springs in the woods. I was actually looking at the star flower plant which is shown to the left of the snake, they are growing their seed pods and I was thinking of photographing it when I realize the snake was there. For once the snake didn't dash off but allowed me to make several pictures. Not a huge snake, but not a small one either, I would say over 2 feet long and probably about an inch in dia. It was quite pretty with a sort of checkerboard pattern on its scales.

I actually don't usually see snakes on my walks. In all the years I have been walking I think I could count on one hand the number of snakes I have seen, and then what I see is mostly tail as they vanish into the undergrowth. I know they are there, I just don't see them, or perhaps I should say more accurately notice them.

Above is my figure drawing from Monday Night's session. Some parts I am happy with but others ah well, thankfully there is always next week.

Above is one of the several varieties of Skipper Butterfly that can be found here in MA. On my walk at North River I saw a lot of these little guys mostly on clover blossoms like this one. This photograph gives you a good view of the wings and head, not sure it would be good for identifying the exact species as I gather the differences are somewhat subtle for some of them and related to feet and other more obscure details. For me it is enough to know it is an orange colored Skipper.

The photograph above was made at Daniel Webster at the Panne (pond). This is a grackle in flight from the rock you see in the photograph. I thought it was kind of cool, and not my usual photograph.

The above image is a close up photograph of Squaw Root, a parasitic plant that can be found in the woods here in the northeast. I saw this at the Attleboro Springs Sanctuary. This particular plant is found in associated with oak trees. Looks sort of like an odd kind of pine cone, and is only about 4 to 6 inches tall.

That is it for today. Hope everyone is staying cool, well as cool as possible, and per usual comments are always welcome.