“A Glorious Spring Morning” 4-23-10

Come walk with me on my Spring morning hike at Long Lane Farm!

Song Sparrow

Below is the first page in my small field sketchbook from today, I’ll type what it says below in case my handwriting is hard to read! (Click the photos for larger view, drawings are already enlarged.)

"A Glorious Morning!" 4-23-2010 pg 1

“A glorious morning! Frost on the ground and now at 9am it’s just wet in the sun, sparkles on the grass everywhere. The House Sparrows are chattering at the barn and a Song Sparrow has staked his claim to the back corner of the yard. Ginger waits in Fox Lane for me. Tree Swallows diving at each other near the nest box, constant twittering, bubbling, chatter. “

Tree Swallow

I saw some great birds today, the Tree Swallows are a joy to watch!  They swoop and turn and I’ve watched them play a game by snatching up chicken feathers from the ground while in flight, then carrying it up high they drop it and another bird will catch it out of the air! I can’t get over the glossy green blue of their feathers.

me sketching

Here’s a picture of me sketching in the lane, wearing my tall mud boots (Wellies), winter coat, bag for sketch supplies and my camera with the long lens. I like to cross the strap diagonally from my shoulder as it takes pressure off my neck and back better.

"Budding Tree" 4-23-2010 pg 2

“Song Sparrow over and over, cardinal in the treeline and a crow, gurgling of the Red Winged Blackbird and Tree Sparrows. Such a sound! Now a Yellow Shafted Flicker…off up the field somewhere. I hear a Field Sparrow now at the maze.”

The trees are just starting to bud, looking up at them in the sunlight they looked like little gems glittering on the tips of branches.

Bluebirds

I was so happy to see a pair of Bluebirds have chosen one of the houses in the field, the Tree Sparrows have claimed the other one.

"Secret Circle Lane" 4-23-2010 pg 3

I had fun discovering tadpoles, snails and a tiny red mite on “Secret Circle Lane”, all in the freezing cold water flooding the lane.

Water Mite

As I wrote in my sketchbook, I was finally able to scoop up a ‘red dot’ floating in the water. Later I was able to study the tiny red dot from the photos I took and found out it’s a Water Mite. Before it got any ideas of how tasty my finger would be I released it back into the water!  I’d like to know what they do live on or how they live.

Here’s a short video clip I shot while standing over the flooded lane (now promise you won’t laugh at me!) :

"The Wet Woods" 4-23-2010

I walked into the wet woods and standing in 4″ of water I did this tiny watercolor sketch of the dead tree. What fascinated me the most was how the shadows and sunlight dappled on the ground and tree branches

"Snail Study" 4-23-2010

Once home I looked at my photos on the computer screen and did this little watercolor study of a snail and two tadpoles. I haven’t identified the snail yet, but it was amazing to see when it was floating in the water it wriggled until it looked like it was out of it’s shell. It was a queer blue color, I never saw one like it.

Go here to find note cards and gifts of this Snail and Tadpoles painting.

"Water Mite + Snail Study" 4-23-2010

The shell of the snail was not flashy or patterned boldly but I think it was beautiful in it’s own subtle way. It looked almost of a gunmetal grey with a cream background.