Test and preparations

Just tried something out yesterday, the result of which is this little Alpine marmot. There is nothing exciting about the picture itself but I wanted to see if a certain technique would work (it did).

Also, since I plan to go on a hiking trip in Austria this summer, I am currently trying to complement my outdoor gear (nothing fancy, just the basics, i.e. shoes, jacket). As it turned out, doing so is much more complicated than I initially assumed - not because of the sometimes questionable colour selection but because of the widespread use of chemicals such as PFCs in the production process. And since I would rather like to avoid such products, there is a lot of reading to do (like, what are silver salts and what are they doing in a trouser?).

Bye-bye birdie!

After three weeks in one of our flower boxes the little wood pigeon flew away yesterday. What surprised me somewhat was the fact that wood pigeon chicklets usually stay in their nest until they are about 28 to 29 days old, which means that 'our' pigeon left its nest roughly one week earlier than it was supposed to do. My guess is that it may gave grown faster due to the fact that it did not have to share its food with a sibling (there were two eggs but only one hatchling, so something must have happened to the other egg - no idea what though).

Unfortunately, I was not able to take that many pictures of the little fellow despite it having been so close. It was simply too wary and got always puffed up as soon as the curtain was moved just a little bit. Once I took a low angle shot for which I did not have to lift the curtain but even then I got noticed. Thus, trying to take more pictures would only have stressed the chicklet unnecessaryly and I certainly did not want to be responsible if it had panicked and fallen out of the flower box to its death.

Well, yesterday and the day before the little one did not get fed particularly much and the adult birds were absent most of the time. It seems likely that they did so intentionally in order to motivate it to leave the nest. And so it did: in the early evening hours (around half past seven) it stood on the small fence that supported the nest, its back turned to the window and suddenly it flapped away. It was a short first flight though, just a few metres to nearby tree. There it sat and one of the adult birds perched on another branch of the same tree.

Whether the young pigeon stayed there for the rest of night I cannot say, but this morning it was gone. An adult pigeon stopped by at the nest for a few moments during the day but aside from this it remained empty.

More mountain sketching

Well, as far as I am concerned there are definitively easier things to draw than mountains or rocks in general. It is so easy to get lost in all those details, the seemingly chaotically arranged shapes and the texture.

Again based on family photos.

Baby bird in a (flower) box

On the last weekend it already seemed as if at least one of the two chicklets had hatched but since the nest was basically always occupied by one of the adult birds it was impossible to say so with certainty. Then, yesterday, there it was!

At first, I was not quite sure what I was actually seeing. It looked like the adult bird was disgorging a pellet (I know they do not do that, but that is what it looked like to me) or even eating one of the chicklets until I realised that the fluffy white thing was a fledgling getting fed by its parent. The chicklet shoved its own beak into the adult one's in a way that looked plain brutal.

Today, when the adult bird left the nest for a few moments, I was able to take a proper look at the young bird. It seems to develop well, is lively and has a good appetite.

The only thing that puzzles me is the exact number of the fledglings, because when I pepped into the nest I thought there were two chicklets snuggeled up to each other (there were two eggs after all), but now when I look at the picture I took it appears as if there is only one. Well, I was a bit pushed for time as the adult birds are always gone for only one minute or so and I had to get the camera first. So, due to the fact that it was somewhat hectic, I am not really sure anymore what I actually saw, could have been one fledgling, could have been two.

Mountain sketch

For the last few months I have been working on a project of mine and slowly but surely things progress. At the moment I am trying to get a better understanding of mountains, the Alps in particular, which includes a fair bit of sketching.

This one is based on a photograph taken years ago during a family holiday in Prägraten, Tyrol.

Wood pigeon Easter eggs

Last Monday, two wood pigeons decided that one of my family's flower boxes is just the right place for them to build a nest in it. While there were only a few twigs on Monday, the whole thing looked much more impressive the next day (top picture). Usually, wood pigeons spend about one to two weeks on the construction of the nest but since these two made "good use" of the thyme, they finished their work after just a couple of days.

On Wednesday, one of the two pigeons, presumably the female one, stayed in the nest overnight for the first time. Then, on Good Friday, the first egg could be seen in the nest (bottom picture), although it is not clear whether it was actually laid on this day or the one before. The second egg followed on Saturday but I have not been able to take a picture of it yet.

The breeding period lasts for about 16 or 17 days, so I will have to wait for roughly two weeks from now on until I get to see any chicklets.

Hand II

Another finger exercise. Using a pencil for the drawings really gives the whole thing a nice soft and lively touch.

Hammer cap

During my year in England I became fascinated with fossils and fossil hunting. Back then I had no equipment at all, which was fine because I did not know yet if my interest would last or simply wane after some time. But since it has become clear that this is an activity I want to keep pursuing, the need for some proper tools became more important. And so I recently received a geologist's hammer, a few dental instruments and safety goggles for my birthday.

In order to protect the hammerhead I made a little leather cap that is fastened with press buttons. I will also make some kind of case for the dental instrumentents but this will have to wait a bit.

Hand I

Another tiny exercise in animation, nothing great but still quite helpful for me. Also, I have to say that I really like the look of the animated pencil drawings. There will definitely be more of the like in the future.

Hello Kitty

Another tiny (and still extremely clunky) animation.

Inori is one of the main characters from the comic series "KAE"/ "TEN by Martina Peters (who taught me inking, for which I am grateful to this day). In the second volume of "Kae" he was a bit unsuccessful frying an egg, so now he is practising.

Since I had absolutely no desire to do moving fabrics so early on, I picked his outfit from the beginning of the first volume of "Ten" (short sleeves). Initially, I also wanted to add his shoulder holster but as I was not exactly sure how to draw it, the idea got scrapped.

By the way, in order to understand the meaning of the titel one has to read the comics - I won't spoil it.

Little bat

Since I am currently trying to acquaint myself with animation, I figured that it would be best to try my hands at something very... very simple. After all, there is no point in starting with a more complex animation before you even know if things actually work the way you think they do. Well, it worked.

Oh, the bat is a brown long-eared one by the way.

Braune Wasserfransen

Yesterday my hometown's NABU-Fachgruppe Säugetierschutz (group for mammal protection) checked some bat quaters at the Brauhausberg (lit. brewhouse mountain). The area is usually closed for the public, thus making the event a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of the local bats and to get an impression of their habitat.

I am by no means an expert on bats and therefore I tried to soak up as much information as possible. For example, here in this area we have four different species of bats: the Wasserfledermaus (Daubenton's bat, Myotis daubentonii), the Fransenfledermaus (Natterer's bat, Myotis nattereri), the Großes Mausohr (greater mouse-eared bat, Myotis myotis), and my current favourite, the Braunes Langohr (brown long-eared bat, Plecotus auritus). At the Brauhausberg we found specimens of all four, except for the greater mouse-eared bat.

Dauberton's bat or Natterer's bat:

Note that, if possible, bats should never be handled with bare hands as they may carry the rabies virus. Thus, wearing a pair of strong (!) gloves is always advisable.

Brown long-eared bat (in the front):

Finding the bats was not always easy, especially at the beginning I did not really know how one actually looks for a bat, but in the end even a bat novice like myself was able to find some. Also, next time I really need a stronger flashlight, preferably a forehead lamp to have my hands free.