People often ask if the birds are replicated in the logbooks, and of course some have to be, as we are fortunate that many of our British birds pop up in different habitats, and the main focus of the logbooks is to showcase some likely (and less likely) contenders for your walk, bike ride or … Continue reading A new Yellowhammer
Introducing Birds of the Seven Sisters
This is another logbook in my location-specific series, and it's wonderful to have the chance to celebrate this iconic stretch of the Sussex coastline. I wanted it to complement the Birds of the South Downs title as they are likely to be used together, hence the only crossovers are Skylarks and Yellowhammers. I am going … Continue reading Introducing Birds of the Seven Sisters
Introducing Hill & Heathland Birds
I am so pleased with this new title! I am fortunate in living near both Ashdown Forest, a wonderful stretch of heathland, and the South Downs which for this part of the UK is really quite hilly. Many of our uplands have a windswept and heathery landscape with sporadic tree cover, so these two habitats … Continue reading Introducing Hill & Heathland Birds
More Field Sketching Practise
It's been pretty horrible weather here in the UK for the last few weeks so my sketching practise has been confined to webcams. The Cornell Lab FeederWatch cams are great - especially the Sapsucker Woods one in Ithaca, where I was thrilled to see a Blue Jay and Mourning Doves. I drew lots of Redpolls … Continue reading More Field Sketching Practise
Ashdown Forest
I am considering another Habitat book: Hill & Heathland Birds. I soaked up a few of the mountain/moorland species with my Birds of the North West Highlands but I would like to do a logbook for our uplands and heath areas, as they are precious habitats and require careful management to maintain their benefits. I … Continue reading Ashdown Forest
Drawing the Knepp Storks
Knepp Estate which is tantalisingly close to me (by which I mean it is not that far in miles but it's a right pain to get to) are part of the White Stork reintroduction project initiative, and rather wonderfully, they have just installed a webcam on one of the active nests. As you will have … Continue reading Drawing the Knepp Storks
Home-Education Art Class 6
This session was all about Pop Art. I'd seen a few resources on the TES website about making a 3D sculpture using Roy Lichtenstein's work as inspiration, and my mother had given me some coloured card so I decided to use that to create the artworks. I had made an example in Illustrator following this … Continue reading Home-Education Art Class 6
Yellowhammers, dogs, and a Wood Pigeon
I quite often see Yellowhammers on my walk, as the flailed hedges suit them and there are plenty of those across the farm. I noticed a female cheeping in a rather desultory manner over the course of a week or so, and then to my delight over the weekend, she seemed to pair up with … Continue reading Yellowhammers, dogs, and a Wood Pigeon
Home-Education Art Classes 4 & 5
Week 4 Graffiti was the theme for our fourth session, using street art downloads by Spray Vectors by Vecteezy for the children to copy. They did really well, as obviously they are digitally produced, and hand drawing lettering is always quite tricky! Week 5 This week was all about patterns: Mehndi and Mandalas. I had … Continue reading Home-Education Art Classes 4 & 5