working on new monotypes

A couple of weeks ago I did some bird surveys of a small pocket marsh. When I was walking out I was captivated by the dry plants. This is the area where I found the plants.The last day I gather some and Sunday I finally got out to my studio. It was a productive time. Now these are just the start of my monotypes but I thought I would share with you. I am using a water based etching ink from Daniel Smith. The paper has to me soaked or it will crease as it goes through the press. The challenge is to get a image of the dry plants that I envisioned in the field. It took some experimenting but the results was worth it.

These are just three of the images. I still have more work but I just had to share.

The area has beautiful Sedge Wrens that spend the winter in this area. On the surveys one or two would just pop up. What a thrill to see these little birds.

February12 sunrise

The first few days of last week were so gray. The week ended with a glorious sunrise. See

Bonapart's Gull

Last week I was doing my pocket marsh surveys at the north end of Jekyll Island. Every day I crossed the wooden bridge over the mouth of Clam Creek. It was too dark and cold to stop on my way out. However when I was finished with the survey, I would stop. There was a Bonopart's Gull doing what Bonapart's Gulls do.

Weekend for Wildlife

In Georgia our state wildlife agency is called Department of Natural Resource (DNR) Department. The Nongame Conservation Program is a part of the DNR but they are not funded by the state of Georgia. They must raise their own money. They do this by a special vehicle tags and by a Weekend for Wildlife event. This event is the weekend. They have their hardworking biologists, scientists and researcher taking the folks out to show them what they are doing for the birds, turtles, whales and other creatures.

Last night at the evening get-together I saw this display. One Nongame programs is banding shorebirds.

On May 22, 2o1o, Brad Winn and Tim Keyes banded Chinquapin, a Whimbrel . They also put a tracking device on him. Following this bird has been fun. Chinquapin has summered in Canada and now wintering in South America. You can follow this bird at Whimbrel Tracking at SeaTurtle.org

I can not say it any better than this:Our Nongame folks do a great job. I hope they raise the money they need to continue these important programs. Here the monotype I donated to the cause.

January 31 sunset

Every time I cross the Jekyll Island bridge going home, I just want to stop at the top and look out over the beautiful marsh. January 31, it was so beautiful I did stop. Here is the sunset reason why.

Picture of the day

Here is a photo taken by Bill Flatau. It is the Common Eider that was seen last year off of Sea Island. Thanks Bill for sharing.

Day two; Water bird count & sparrow hunt

Day two intense birding continues:
The Sunday evening I got home just in time. My friend Paul Lehman was coming into town. He was on a ticking mission. What is a ticking mission? Well, Bird Ticking is a game birders play. The idea is to get at least 50% of the birds possible in each of fifty state and the Canadian Provinces. It means you get to know the birds well and see the habitat. Paul goal here was the Common Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, and Harris's Sparrow.
Paul & I met many years ago when I lived on the road. He was traveling too so we often ran into each other. Over the years, I have camped at his home. Now, I was returning the favor.

Monday Morning, we were at the Harris's Sparrow field at first light. The Altamaha Waterfowl Management Area just south of Darien, GA is managed for wildlife. There are lots of grassy field with great seed crops for wildlife. The sparrows are plentiful. Do you want to really get to know your sparrows? Well this is the place. There are Savannah Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Field Sparrows. Early we both got a glimpse of the Harris Sparrow but it quickly disappeared into the thick brush. Paul got several more glimpses. While we look he talked about where this sparrow might be found in the field. Knowing where to look is half the game. At one point, I flushed a Barn Owl. It was a beautiful owl.

I had the Winter Waterbird Survey. We had to leave. This year, the count was combined with the Piping Plover count. U.S. Fish & Wildlife joins forces with Canada and Caribbean countries to count Piping Plovers. There were birders on the beaches from South Carolina, Georgia and Florida all at the same time counting birds at the same time. This is a great snapshot of the number of shorebirds, sea ducks and sea birds there.

So at 10 a.m. We met Chris Cappola and drove over to Sea Island, a private island. Bill Flatau had a beach vehicle. Paul went looking for the large raft of scaup (ducks.) We head south to survey. We did find one Piping Plover and a lot of shorebirds. Paul called to tell us he had the ducks including the rare ones. We were counting so it took us a little time to get to 27th Street. We were not too late. The raft of ducks were over 3000 strong.

I have a counter so I took on the task of counting the entire raft. Bill and Chris started looking for the Common Eider and Long-tailed Duck. They were found and we all got looks. Still that many ducks was a stunning sight.

Still we could not linger. We were on the count so we headed up at the northern end of Sea Island. There were more shorebirds. Yes, I was in my element. By the time we finished it was a little after 2 p.m. Lunch and a quick look at Gould's Inlet and we were headed back to the sparrow fields.

Gene Keferl joined us and we looked and we looked. We looked at a lot of sparrows but none of them were the Harris's Sparrow. Paul did find a Lincoln Sparrow. After the frustration of the Harris's Sparrow the Lincoln Sparrow was a good end to the day. At the end of two day of intense counting I saw 94 species of birds. Not bad, I also saw pine lands, wetlands, weedy fields, beach and ocean and a lot of wonderful birds.