#27: Royal Terns

I've been a pen-and-ink mode lately, so here are some quick pen sketches of the Royal Tern.



We saw these in North Carolina, all over the coast, cruising over the water, plunge-diving down into it to catch fish, and hanging out in big groups on pier posts, always managing to look like they were fighting a strong gale as they were just sitting there. They have deep reddish-orange bills, and that black cap only extends all across the forehead when they are in breeding mode, so says Sibley's.

I can't think of anything more enlightening to say about these birds. Just glad I got at least 2 outta the jar this month! :-)

#26: Vermillion Flycatcher

The perfect bird for Valentine's Day today...



This was the very first bird Randy and I saw together that started our whole birdwatching fascination. He was sitting way up high in a mesquite tree near the Salt River where we had gone camping. We didn't have any bino's at the time, or even a good camera - just a little point-and-shoot. Randy snapped a shot of him and we ooooed and ahhhhed at it when he zoomed in on the viewfinder. We called it "Red Bird" for a long time until we finally dug out an old copy of Sibley's and figured out what he was really called.

I tried to capture the male's deep red breast in my colored pencil drawing, done on vellum, but it's nowhere near as amazing as when you see them out in nature, perched up on a limb against a crystal clear blue sky, fluttering down every now and then to snap up a little bug in the air. They absolutely glow, and the females, which are more pink than red, are beautiful too. Thank you, Valentine, for this picture, and for everything.