7 March 08

Male Northern Harrier

male northern harrier, prismacolor on canson mi-teintes Seeing the ferruginous hawk last week has made me look for it even though we haven’t seen it since. I spotted a white blob on the ground at the base of the levee this morning, got the binoculars on it: not a ferruginous, but a beautiful adult male northern harrier, and sitting still for once. I got the scope out and started to sketch, filling in more detail as the bird stayed put.

male northern harrier, prismacolor on canson mi-teintes Then I realized: this bird’s wrong. The eyes are wrong. They have a pale yellow eye with a tiny dark pupil (especially tiny in the full morning sun).

So I started again. Here’s my second attempt. The bird was flushed by a jogger on the levee but by then I had my first sketch for color reference…

I love the way these birds stand, legs splayed, ready to spring.

Posted by at 10:37 AM in Bird of the Day | Link |

  1. Nice! Another bird I hope to see one day… :)


    — Dave    7. March 2008, 17:05    Link

  2. Dave, surely they have these in the lowlands by you? Anyway, I’d be delighted to share ours if you’re ever out this way.


    — Pica    7. March 2008, 17:09    Link

  3. Lucky you – a posing model! A sharp-shinned hawk landed right in front of our house today (having caught one of the birds at our feeders), but it took off before I even got a good look at it, let alone grab my sketchbook.


    — Teresa    8. March 2008, 12:56    Link

  4. Yes, they’re around, but I hear they like pretty high quality areas, which aren’t as common here as you’d think!


    — Dave    8. March 2008, 13:25    Link

Previous: Next: