fifth iteration. it may be surprising that there are hours of work between each post…

fourth sitting.

third sitting.

second sitting.

time for another sketch progression: this drawing is somewhere around 12×9,” and is ink on paper. Or will be once it is further along, right now it is mostly paper.

Just because one has to spend all day sitting on an airplane does not mean that there are no birds to be seen… from the drive to and from LAX and JFK:

Cooper’s Hawk (LA, CA)
Peregrine Falcon (Queens, NY)
Ring-billed Gull (LA, CA)
California Gull (LA, CA)
Herring Gull (Queens, NY)
Western Gull (LA, CA)
Great Black-backed Gull (Queens, NY)
Vaux’s Swift (LA, CA)

Eaton Canyon, added:

Turkey Vulture
California Quail
Purple Finch (1 male, 1 female)

mammals: Mule Deer, Fox Squirrel, California Ground Squirrel

Yesterday was a day of Eaton Canyon adventure complete with rock-hopping and swollen-stream fording, culminating with the prerequisite injury. This always seems to happen after one has done something of questionable judgment, e.g. climbing tiny deer trails on canyon walls the day after a rain storm and rock/mudslides, or jumping across a flooded stream with $3000 worth of camera and optics, but never has to do with the questionable activities themselves. I once spent an entire day climbing rock faces in Joshua Tree and repelling down them, returning feeling brave and unscathed, only to slip off of a rock in camp that was only 8″ high. This resulted in a ripped Achilles tendon, which, in case you don’t know, is terribly painful and takes forever to heal. Yesterday was my father’s turn - he hit his heel rather sharply on a rock and bruised it, but not in connection with any of his earlier acrobatics.

Added to the sightings from Eaton Canyon and the Altadena house:

Merlin
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)
Black Phoebe
Mountain Chickadee
Bushtit
Bewick’s Wren
Rufous-crowned Sparrow