I had fun with the Carolina Wrens yesterday, so I did something similar with Great Blue Herons today - studies of different angles of the head. All done from photos of course, some of which were Jorge's. The one where it's looking straight-on is almost so strange I didn't include it, but there it is! Done with just a wash of black paint.

Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias

In the winter when birds are so hard to find, pay attention to chickadees, they sometimes bring their friends... That's how Jorge got this Brown Creeper - four Black-capped Chickadees were foraging in alder bushes beside the road and this guy was behind them, creeping up one trunk, flying to the base of another and creeping up that one - searching for insects in the bark crevices.

Brown Creeper, Certhia americana
Lyme, Connecticut

The easiest way to portray a bird is in profile. Perhaps it's the best way to show the proportions - the length of the beak relative to the head, and so on. Today I'm trying to stretch my skills to show the bird in some different postures. This is one of our favorites, the Carolina Wren, whose cheerful song brings joy all spring and summer - really it does. And they stick around through the winter too, visiting our feeders and finding insects hidden in the woodpile.

Carolina Wren, Thryothorus ludovicianus
Storrs-Mansfield, Connecticut, year-round

With the sustained cold weather we've had this month, water is a real magnet for birds. Jorge found these European Starlings taking advantage of a bird-sized water supply on campus in the afternoon.

European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
UConn campus, Storrs, Connecticut

Continuing with yesterday's family - and a "plus one". Monday's sketch was a few North American representatives and today I went to Europe. The Eurasian Blue Tit we saw a few places, this particular one in Elantxobe in the Basque Country of Spain. The Sombre Tit was foraging on wild fruits near Sofia Bulgaria, as was the Long-tailed Tit. Just to be clear, the latter is the Plus-one, not a member of the Paridae, but of the Aegithalidae, though it shares the habits, the look and hence the name - Tit.

Eurasian Blue Tit, Cyanistes cyaneus, Elantxobe Spain
Sombre Tit, Poecile lugubris, Sofia Bulgaria
Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus, Sofia Bulgaria

We see the American Robin in winter wherever there are fruiting trees, and usually they come in numbers, eat up all the fruit then move on. The bird Jorge photographed was part of one such flock that he found on campus this afternoon - and by the strong coloring, it's an adult male.

American Robin, Turdus migratorius
Storrs, Connecticut

 A new family theme today, the Paridae, tits, titmice, chickadees - they're found throughout the world. Today's sketch features the Bridled Titmouse which we observed on Mount Lemmon near Tucson in April 2024 and the Tufted Titmouse and Black-capped Chickadee which are year-round visitors to our feeders in Connecticut.

Bridled Titmouse, Baeolophus wollweberi
Tufted Titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor
Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus

Jorge's pick for today is a Common Merganser. This is the female, up from a successful hunting trip.

Common Merganser, Mergus merganser

As promised, here's the third in my Coraciiformes series. The European Bee-eater is one of 28 members of the genus Merops (the bee-eaters), and all are strikingly colorful birds. They're social, nesting in colonies of sand-bank burrows, and sometimes gather in large hunting and roosting flocks. The duo I've sketched is an immature in a crouched posture with an adult who's just caught a large wasp.

European Bee-eater, Merops apiaster
Istanbul Turkiye, September 5, 2024

This afternoon, being a weekend, we had time for an all-out field trip, and went in search of eagles. The lower Connecticut River is a pretty reliable place to find them, and we observed a pair from Eagle Landing State Park in Haddam. Their nest is on a nearby river island, and residents of a riverside community told us about the comings and goings of this particular pair. Good to hear the eagle-pride. Jorge's Bald Eagle just took off from a treetop and he caught it spread-eagled as it gained lift.

Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Eagle Landing State Park, Haddam, Connecticut

The name Coraciiformes is latin for crow-like, and as I painted today's bird I certainly noticed the similarity between this European Roller and some of the jays I painted earlier. The body shape, bill shape, bold colors. This is not to say that they are related in any way, just that early naturalists (and me too) noted a visual likeness.

European Roller, Coracias garrulus, Alicante, Spain, September 5, 2024

Horsebarn Hill really is a special place. Many grassland species show up here, some to breed, and many spend the whole year. The Savannah Sparrow and Northern Harrier are two residents we've seen earlier as is apparently, Jorge's bird of the day. The Eastern Meadowlark definitely breeds here, and for the past few winters we have also found it hanging about this unique habitat.

Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, Horsebarn Hill, Storrs-Mansfield Connecticut

 One of my favorite groups of birds is the order that includes kingfishers, motmots, todies, bee-eaters and rollers. The order Coraciiformes contains three families from the Americas and two Eurasian families. In 2024 I saw species from three of these families, so that's where we're going next! My Belted Kingfisher is flying up the Quinebaug River in Plainfield Connecticut - a favorite spot for fishermen, birders, and fishing birds.

Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon, Quinebaug River in March.

The Connecticut River is tidal from its mouth at Old Saybrook to the dam at Windsor Locks north of Hartford, a distance of over 55 miles. Jorge drove out to the ferry landing at Rocky Hill to see what birds might be around - and found a few Ring-billed Gulls out walking around on the ice!

Riing-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis, Connecticut River