another Wild Life Drawing class
I have been watching the Ravens nesting on the pylon next to the Cuckoo Trail (my regular dog walk) and this year there seem to be 3 or possibly 4 fledglings. They hop around on the girders of the pylon, flapping their wings and the anxious mother in me finds it rather terrifying to watch. They have been there for a few years, and last year raised 3 chicks, so this area seems to suit them. I’ve more info in these posts if you want to check them out.
This was a livestream session from Gauntlet Birds of Prey which I always try to attend as it’s great practise to draw the birds as they are hopping around. There were a couple of reference photos as usual, but I was keen to watch the birds in real time. The first Raven, Leonard, was very bouncy and I didn’t really manage much by way of sketches.
There were some fantastic stories from Jake and Daisy about the Ravens who were in and had passed through their care. These corvids are extremely intelligent, with a similar grasp of life to that of a 5 or even 7 year old child. They have been found to use pedestrian crossings to help them crack hard-shelled nuts and crustaceans, dropping the food on the road just before the light on the pole unit goes red and then retrieving it when the figure goes green and it’s safe to cross. They are also great mimics, and the team at Gauntlet recounted many times when one particular Raven would give the resident dogs commands in their owner’s voice, and they would find the dogs sitting obediently but confused while the mischievous bird looked on.
The attention span of the Ravens was such that we interspersed the corvids with a new recruit at Gauntlet, a Red-legged Seriema called Dottie, a species which heralds from South America, and is known for its loud alarm call, and propensity for eating snakes. They can fly, but prefer to run and jump, and have direct lineage to velociraptors, which can be seen in their prehistoric looks and manner.
We then met Gavin, who had spent 5 miserable years in awful conditions as a pet, but now has been rehabilitated and is happily integrated as part of the Gauntlet flock. He gets worried easily though and has quite special needs about being in spaces which are either too large or too confined, so we only saw him for about 10 minutes. Animal welfare is always paramount and it’s lovely to see the trusting and respectful relationship between the handlers and the birds – especially when so many are rescues and have had traumatic events.
I always find black birds difficult to draw and paint because I love that blue-black, and this time I used Prussian blue rather than indigo, which gave an authentic greenish tinge to the inky blue. Iridescence is almost impossible with the matt finish of gouache but that’s fine, I would prefer to have fun and slap on the paint than leave bits white to give the highlights.
