Painting and drawing Savannah Sparrows...and our first Dark-eyed Junco of winter!

I painted these Savannah Sparrows last week for a guest post I did on the Birding is Fun blog. As a reference, I used sketches of the bird I drew from an outing in early spring. Since our summer sparrows are leaving us for their winter grounds, I thought it a great way to say good bye to them. Sparrows are always fun to watch. They are sweet, and their subtle shades of browns, grays, and caramels are restful to the eye and make them interesting to paint...

...a sweet Savannah Sparrow in an early spring meadow (watercolor).

Sparrows go about their business without flash. They flit through the grasses and make us work to see and identify them. This little Savannah Sparrow, however, was making it easy. He was singing heartily, perched on a tall and dried-out reedy stem of grass left over from winter. I saw this bird on March 24, 2012 at Armleder Park in Cincinnati, OH. The bird was one of a pair that took turns diving down to the ground, then fluttering back up to a perch. In the same field, two Vesper Sparrows were doing the same thing, although they were much more secretive and tended to stay a little lower in the weeds (click here for that post). Both species were returning migrants, and it was wonderful to welcome them back for the season...

...same Savannah Sparrow trying his best to fade away in a field of dead stalks and grasses (watercolor).

Pencil sketch of the Savannah Sparrow at Armleder Park (March 24, 2012)

Pencil sketch of the same Savannah Sparrow at Armleder. 

...and already it's time to say goodbye to these sweet summer sparrows, as winter sparrows have already arrived in Cincinnati. I've read reports of White-crowned Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows, but so far, none have shown up in our yard. It seems Pine Siskins are making appearances in Cincy too! I hope a few drop by our feeders. We do have a new visitor, however—our first Dark-eyed Junco of winter flashed his white tail feathers this past Saturday on October 27, 2012. Last year our first junco blew in on November 8, 2012 (click here for that post and watercolors of the junco), so we're ahead of the game!

Sketchbook entry of our first Dark-eyed Junco of the season (10-27-2012)

Armleder Park is on the east side of Cincinnati in Hamilton County and is a great place to bird. It's about 30 minutes from my house, so I don't get there as often as I'd like. A small paved trail loops through a weedy meadow, and you have canoe access to the Little Miami River as well (305 acres).