Anna's Hummingbird

This female Anna's Hummingbird was a colorful visitor just outside our kitchen window.
I would love to capture on video the dives that the male Anna's Hummingbird makes to protect its territory. It will fly about 100 feet straight up, then come diving back down, looping up at the end with a noisy, hovering shake of its wings and body. It's quite a performance for such a small bird.

Palette surprises

Some interesting patterns, colors and shapes can happen in the paint on an artist's palette. These happenstance images can be the source for an abstract painting or lead to a new technique.

Best of Show at Albany Artists Exhibit

Congratulations to Lynn Powers, one of our APES members (Albany Painting Enthusiasts), for her best of show award at the Albany Artists Show! Her beautiful watercolor portrait below received the honor.

Watching by Lynn Powers
(Photo shown by permission of the artist)

Check out Lynn's blog, see her very large offering of art instruction videos by many favorite instructors at Creative Catalyst Productions, and see more of her artwork.

Albany Artists Show

Here is a link to an article on our Albany Artists show which runs thru May at the Giustina Gallery at Oregon State University:
http://gazettetimes.com/entertainment/article_b674fd3e-5904-11df-9bde-001cc4c03286.html.
There are more photos of the gallery and artwork at http://www.flickr.com/photos/entertaineronflickr/sets/72157623879615159/.

My watercolor painting, "Along the Willamette," was awarded an Honorable Mention.

Another backyard visitor

Evening Grosbeaks visit for a short time each year. The male has a very striking pattern and colors. The large bill is perfect for cracking the sunflower seeds in the bird feeder.

A very energetic bather

This Scrub Jay really gets into its bath - fun to watch.

DIVE !!!

Ahhhhhh...

Another Expert Flyer

This past weekend, besides the cropduster biplane, I got a chance to take some photos of another expert flyer. The violet-green swallow was taking a brief rest from his aerial maneuvers catching insects on the wing. This swallow's colors are incredible and usually difficult to glimpse as it darts by. The one below was kind enough to pose for me.

I have two fond memories of swallows from years gone by. One was from a kayaking trip on the Willamette River when we saw dozens, if not hundreds, of swallows flying just above the river, within a foot of the surface, in front of us. Occasionally the birds would fly into their nests dug into the high, steep riverbank.

The other memory was from sitting on top the peak of Casa Grande, a mountain in Big Bend National Park in Texas. The swallows kept zipping past so fast, the sound their wings made slicing through the air was loud enough to be easily heard above the strong wind.