Drive and Jog by Photos

Click on Photo for amazing detail of this vultures wings

I have officially become a Taxi service and Dog Walker again with the beginning of school and kids activities. I have been keeping my camera with me while driving and my iphone for hiking and running. I have been capturing amazing photos of all of the birds of Northern California. The hardest is the red wing blackbird because you can only see the red under their wings when they fly in certain light and positions. I have many gorgeous photos from this week of the white pelicans but am going to put up a photo of a white heron circling along a creek while large black crows were circling a roadkill rabbit. I have zoomed in so you can see the amazing detail.

Sparrow on Barbed Wire

Sparrow on Barbed Wire • 6" x 6" • oil on board

This little sparrow perching on barbed wire signifies the dangers facing these little birds.

Daily Painting Sparrows Nest

Sparrows Nest • 6" x 6" • oil on board

Here it is – my first daily painting! I actually painted it yesterday. This took me almost 6 hours. I painted this nest after finding an injured sparrow and its nest on the ground. I put four eggs in the nest which represents my family. Today I painted the sparrow; I will post it tomorrow.

I need to call Wildcare and see if the sparrow I tried to save made it. It really looked like it had a broken neck. There is a goat at a barn I used to ride at and it has a broken crooked neck. It lives with it twisted and doesn't know anything is wrong because it was born that way.

I didn't use black paint in either of these paintings and I like to let the primary colors show a little to give a sense of the fact that it is a painting and I mixed the colors.

Little Wounded Sparrow

Bird Offering Woman a Flower • 5" x 7" • Pastel on Paper

I have been having a week of birds. I was preparing to put up my owl painting after a fun conversation with my family about our owl experiences, when I had a sparrow experience.

This morning while at the barn I found a baby sparrow on the ground between the arena and a well traveled horse path. It's wings could open, yet it couldn't fly. It was in conversation, chirping away with an older healthy bird on the edge of the barn. I picked it up and found its nest on the ground a few feet away under a tree. I decided to take it to our Wildcare where they save birds. I made new friends as we worked together to collect hay and a bucket to transport it. I decided to post my oil of a sparrow, but, found this pastel sketch I did for a large street painting I created at a festival.