#688 Elk review

Elk (wapiti) are common where I live in Wyoming.

Shown below, are images of this magnificent member of the deer family.    

Wind River Descent

Below, is a photo taken of elk about two miles from our cabin on the Wyoming/Colorado border.
This image was taken two weeks ago . . . a major snowstorm was imminent and the herd was leaving the high country.

Go to the BLOG INDEX and Reference Page for more information.  

See post #616

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#638 Wyoming studio, the pond: Great Blue Heron

I spend lots of time in the field traveling far and wide to experience the wildlife subjects that I use for my art.  

A pleasant feature of being in residence in Wyoming is I only have to walk a few paces from the studio to take part in the unfolding drama that constantly takes place at our pond.   Among the birds typically there, I might see a raft of migrating ducks in the fall, always nesting Canada Geese, Mallards, and Mergansers in the spring, pheasants, an occasional Sandhill Crane, Mourning Doves,  many different songbirds, White-faced Ibis, Belted Kingfisher,  Osprey, Bald Eagles,
and one of my favorites: The Great Blue Heron; which is the focus of this blog post.

Below, is John James Audubon's lithograph of the Great Blue Heron.

We've had lots of rain this spring, the pond is full, and the Great Blue has occupied the little island on the pond and fishes for small trout with its dagger-like bill.  When the heron arrives, the nesting Canadas vacate the island and move their brood to the pond's edge but always come back to the safety of the island in the evening when the heron flies off to roost.


Below, the Great Blue Heron has arrived, strides to its favorite fishing spot as the
Canada Geese move off the island with their brood.

There's an old cabin next to the pond, which along with bushes and a jon boat, provides cover when we photograph.
I'll show a picture of the old cabin in the next blog which is about the resident Canada Geese.

Below, are photos of recent events at our pond featuring the Great Blue Heron.
Trish took the first one of the bird behind the jon boat.

The Great Blue Heron is the largest North American heron and is commonly seen in every region of America except the highest elevations of the Rockies.  The big bird slowly wades or waits patiently, staring into the water when feeding and then quickly strikes any prey that comes within its reach.  They have a six to seven foot wingspan and the male is larger than the female.  The bird usually has blue-gray plumage, but in some areas it is completely white. 

Below, are two early etchings of the Great Blue Heron.

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#614 Snow Moon

Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, Native American and Canadian tribes of the north call

February's full moon the Full Snow Moon.  Some tribes referred to this moon as the Full Hunger Moon 

since harsh and frigid weather made hunting food difficult.  

Shown below, a Mule Deer doe slowly passes under last night's Full Snow Moon in the sub-zero cold.

The night before last, a snowstorm dumped over ten more inches on our studio headquarters at the foot of the Wind River Range in Wyoming.  We woke up this morning to -16 degrees temperatures and as usual, the first thing one thinks about are the animals . . . both domestic and wild.  We have horses, goats, poultry, and feral barn cats that share the property with a resident herd of mule deer and wintering pheasants.  At the base of heated buildings such as the studio, animals congregate because the temperature is actually a few degrees warmer.  We keep a water heater in a big rubber tub and put out hay and corn for the geese.  The chickens have a heat lamp in their coop and we enjoy fresh eggs in the winter because the light induces laying eggs.  While all of this is a necessity for the domestic animals, we are careful not to tame the deer which would inhibit their wildness and ability to survive . . . after all, in the big scheme of things, we are predators.

Below, are images taken at our place along the frozen Popo Agie River in Wyoming.  

Although the surface is frozen, the big river flows underneath to join the Wind River downstream.

This photo was taken from the studio deck this morning . . . below zero but sunny!

 

The barn protects horses, goats, and barn cats but on this sunny day, the warm sun will feel good on their backs.

Geese are amazingly adaptable to frigid weather and like all creatures, require an open source of water.  Water, in this climate, can freeze in less than an hour!

Below and at right, the big domestic geese are fed corn and hay is given to the deer when snow covers the ground.  Trish cries,"goose-goose-goose" and the geese come running!

Below, Trish and Penny enjoy a warm fire after chores are done.

Below, no sun yesterday but the deer, with their long winter's coat, nestled in the snow
and bedded down for warmth and the pheasant found morsels by scratching through the snow.

In the bleak midwinter, Frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

                                                                                     - Christina G. Rossetti



Deer have always been a favorite subject.  Below is an early etching (1979) entitled, "First Snow".

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#580 In the Field: Birds of the North Country, con't . . .

On September 24 of this year, beginning with post #568, I started
a series of posts describing time spent at my beloved studio and
cabin located on an island on Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada.
There are many earlier posts about the cabin as well and they all describe
inspiration derived from being immersed in a wilderness
environment.  Since the early 1960s, the Canadian
North Country has been and continues to be,
an important source for my art.

Please see the previous post for more information about
birds of the North Country.

The focus of this post is the Ruffed Grouse.

Although many birds migrate or move south out of the frozen North Country and Ontario's Lake of the Woods region, some stay throughout the winter:  Among those who remain are the Ruffed Grouse, the Gray Jay, northern owls
such as the Great Gray, Boreal, and the Snowy, winter finches such as Pine and Evening Grosbeak,
Northern Shrike, Bohemian Waxwing, some woodpeckers, ravens, chickadees, and others.

When the woods are locked in the grip of winter, birds must be active to stay alive and sunny days mean
frantic feeding activity.  Ruffed Grouse are hardy, know their habitat and rarely starve . . . they hunker
down in a snowbank for cover and shelter when the air temperature drops below zero.
Trapped air in the snow provides a warmer cover and protection from the biting wind.








Shown at left, is a taxidermy mount of a Ruffed Grouse
that resides in the island studio on Lake of the Woods.
I have a large collection of taxidermy mounts
of birds and mammals in both the Canada
and Wyoming studios.  Taxidermy can be a
great reference for the artist but does not
take the place of knowing the anatomy or
experiencing the critter in the field.








Below, is a drawing from my ever-present sketchbook of a Ruffed Grouse.

 I have been working on a sculpture of a pair of Ruffed Grouse in the Wyoming studio for several years.
The clay model originated as two separate block-in demonstrations for students in workshops and I
combined them into a pair.  Next summer, I plan to take the model to the Canada studio to work on,
hopefully finish, and take to mold.  There are so many Ruffed Grouse on the island and since
I believe an artist is truly inspired by their surroundings, the creative juices will flow!  


Below, are images of the Ruffed Grouse sculpture in progress . . . can't wait to take it to Canada!

More about Ruffed Grouse in next Sunday's post.

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information. 

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish

#578 In the Field: Birds of the North Country

Our season in Canada is over and the island studio on
 Lake of the Woods is cold and dark now.  Like many of the birds
. . . we, too are headed south.

The cabin has been drained and closed up for the winter
and as we cross the Canadian border, I'm thinking about the
coming frigid weather that will soon envelope the North Country.

The cold weather came early this year yet there were sunny and mild fall days in October for crappie fishing and walking the logging roads in search of grouse . . .
on cold, blustery days we worked in the studio by the warmth of a birch fire.
Some years we've stayed into November until the shallow bays  start skimming with ice but the Wyoming studio is waiting and there's work to be done there.

Below, is an original watercolor- tinted etching entitled, "Down From Canada".
Also shown is a pair of etchings entitled, "Dabbling Duck Decoys and "Dving Duck Decoys".
These etchings, like so many of my wildlife etchings, were inspired by time spent in the North Country.

As the days shortened and became colder, many birds left . . . the pelicans and some shorebirds
headed south in September and the loons soon followed in October.  A few migrants remain but as the
lake freezes, they leave and search for open water, more moderate climate, and their eventual nesting area.
Geese, ducks, cormorants, gulls, terns, and a few other migrants have either left or soon will be on their way south.
Mergansers can be seen in the fall and among the last ducks to migrate are the hardy little Bufflehead and bluebills.

The distant pop of shotguns can be heard in the mornings and evenings
as hunters pick up lingering Mallards, Scaup (called bluebills), and Canada Geese.  

Below, is an image of an American White Pelican taken in September not far from our island
 before the beautiful birds started their journey south.

It is estimated that more than 15% of White Pelicans in the hemisphere nest on Lake of the Woods.

Below, a flotilla of mergansers as well as Canada Geese, and a resident loon with it's rich black
color changed to a seasonal dull gray, can routinely be seen off the point in front of the cabin during the fall.
Migrant species disappear slowly as their numbers trickle out with the coming cold weather.

Below, is an image of cormorants drying their wings with gulls close by.
Sketches from my ever-present sketchbook are also shown.

Three major biomes are in confluence in the Lake of the Woods region, resulting in a great diversity of bird life.
The thousands of uninhabited and remote islands offer great habitat to over
300 species of birds at one time of the year or another.

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information. 

Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish