Zion National Park was designated as critical habitat for the endangered Mexican Spotted Owl in 2004. Although they are usually found in forest habitat, they do well in the shadowed canyons where they blend into the rocks and have plenty of ledges and outcroppings to perch on as they watch for deer mice and voles and other rodents. This drawing was based on video taken by Zion Ranger Mark Ratchford in 2020.
Archive | iPad Paintings
A Wake-up Call
As I look at endangered and threatened birds in Utah, I realize I need to start with a bird that is now extinct, but once flew over Utah skies in unbelievable numbers, as it did across much of the States and around the world: the passenger pigeon. Estimates of their population in the early 19th century are as high as five billion, and dense flocks a mile wide and two miles long took hours to pass; in 1914, the last passenger pigeon in the world, Martha, died in the Cincinnati Zoo. Their sudden decline and ultimate extinction, witnessed in real time, was the start of a widespread concern with bird populations. This piece is based on a photograph of preserved specimens at the Field Museum of Natural HIstory in Chicago, photograph by Marc Schlossman. And the colors are inspired by Audobon’s portrait of the tragic birds.
Bendire’s Thrasher
As I enter my last couple weeks of “My Year of Birds,” I want to focus on endangered, threatened, and sensitive birds seen in Utah…. Tonight, a Bendire’s Thrasher, a secretive little desert bird who often hangs out on the ground, and whose survival is threatened by a changing climate and loss of habitat. This wee portrait inspired by a photograph by Amy Hunt, posted on Flickr.
Great Egret Chick
Out of Darkness Drawn…
I haven’t worked on the etching press in a very long time. It’s great to be experimenting with monotypes again!
Great Egret…
Little Pink Bird
Found some hand-made paper at the studio today… what fun!
Great White Egret
Last Little Blue (for awhile)
Who’s Down there?
