Birding

Stopping and Noticing

December 29, 2024 by Valters Videnieks 4 Comments

Well, the last post from California is here. Even though I was there for only 1,5 months I do feel like I had quite the opportunity to go around and explore this beautiful state. Besides working with birds at the Palomarin Field Station in Marin county I had the chance to visit Sierra Valley, Big Sur, Lassen NP, Humboldt county, and do plenty of exploring around Point Reyes National Seashore. And of course the drives to all these places were accompanied with plenty of stops along the way and many, many beautiful sights and extraordinary birds. Could not have asked for more! 140 new life birds for me on this trip… still can not wrap my head around that:)

This article is going to be a tad different. Before writing I was thinking of a way how could I showcase all the amazing birds that I saw, and finally thought of a way. For about 4 years now I have been actively documenting my observations with a sketchbook in hand. I have found that by observing birds and sketching them I am seeing more. I have been taking a lot of photos in the past but even though that was fun I would always just take a photo of the bird say “check” and move on. However, when I’m armed with a sketchbook, pencil and some watercolours, I have to stop, ground myself and really observe the bird in order to sketch it right. I am spending more time just looking at the bird and in those moments I have noticed behaviours, colours, habitats and details I wouldn’t have observed with otherwise. Although, I have to admit that I was having a bit harder time with that in California. Just because everything is new and there are new lifers flying left and right it was hard to keep my head down, focused on the sketchbook. But I did manage to collect enough interesting bird shapes, colours and behaviour sketches and I’m content with that.

So this post will be almost purely visual as I’d like to put my sketches here and hopefully you enjoy it and maybe it inspires you to sometimes just sit down and spend an extended period of time observing just one bird. Trust me, you will be amazed by their fascinating lives and even if you are the so called “lister” (which I totally am but I manage to combine that with being an “observer”) and think that you already love birds, you will become obsessed.

Pelagic Cormorant off the coast of Monterey. Strong sunlight made for interesting shadows.
Buffleheads at Point Reyes. Always diving and being chaotic makes these birds very characteristic.
Horned Larks, House Finch and Great Blue Heron. Sierra Valley. Notice, the plumage on the lark is not entirely correct, but I am sketching what I am seeing not what I think or know that should be there.
Red-Winged Blackbirds and Brewer’s Blackbirds in Sierra Valley.

Blackbirds and American Wigeons in Sierra Valley. It was a cold morning so the waterfowl was staying warm by tucking their bills.
A colour banded Wrentit and Killdeer by the Palomarin station. The Wrentits seem like just a brown bird but I found them to be one of the most interesting birds that I encountered in California.
Western Bluebird and Western Meadowlarks on a field by Palomarin Station. It was sooo much fun putting in the yellow. Our European “Old World” birds don’t often offer a lot of particularly dazzling colours.
Great Egret and Anna’s Hummingbird by Palomarin. Together with the stations crew we named all of the local hummers. This particular one looked like an Anthony to us…
Say’s Phoebe and Western Bluebirds near Lassen NP. These birds were often perched in open areas for a longer time and were so called “cooperative” for a quick sketch.
Wrentits, Western Bluebirds and Anna’s Hummingbirds by Palomarin. Bunch of these bluebirds would often perch in one tree in the evenings and they were an absolute delight to tired eyes…
Black Phoebe, California Quail and California-Scrub Jay. The jays were going absolutely nuts for acorns around the station and you would often be woken up from a nap by the sound of an acorn plummeting and hitting the roof.
White-Tailed Kite, Cackling and Emperor Goose in Humboldt County and a Western Meadowlark near Fort Bragg. The Emperor goose was the only bird that I “twiched” and it was totally worth it.
Townsend’s Warblers, Hermit Thrush, White-Crowned Sparrow, Clarks Nutcracker and a Hooded Merganser. Point Reyes and Lassen NP. The nutcracker was probably my most exciting bird and it was so interesting to see the behaviour of this high-altitude bird.

That’s it! Besides these sketches I took a bunch of notes in a smaller notebook and recorded a couple of songs and calls of the Golden states birds. All of these sketches were done in the field and by paying close attention to these avians. I hope that you enjoyed this little sketchbook tour and please do let me know if you have any comments, questions or insights. I always love to talk and introduce people to drawing birds as I have found that it is what works the best for me:)

Written by Valters Videnieks
Valters Videnieks is a young birder coming from Latvia. Birds have interested Valters from about the age of 7, and his passion for windsurfing has allowed him to travel a lot and go birding in the meantime. Valters has yet to obtain a degree in biology but that is his plan in the upcoming years. Despite that he has participated in a lot of surveys and citizen science projects. Besides just going around and listing the birds he sees, Valters has taken up an interest in audio recording and prefers that over taking photos. Bird illustration in the field has also stuck to him so on all birding trips, a good sketchbook and a few pencils are always in the bag. Valters has also obtained a license and proper training to ring (band) birds which allows him to receive intriguing information about bird migration. Valters enjoys spending morning hours, watching the sea with a scope as well a wandering through open areas such as steppes and mountains and looking for buntings, chats, pipits and all kinds of small avians associated with these landscapes.