Jan 27th Strumpshaw Fen

A reedbed on a windy day at Strumpshaw Fen

It was a very windy day at Strumpshaw today. The strong wind has kept most of the birds in the woods into hiding. I could hear bullfinches and long-tailed tits, but I could not find them amongst the waving of branches. Snowdrops have also emerged in the sheltered corners of the woodland trail.

Snowdrops

Blue Tit

Wildfowl sheltering from the wind in front of Reception Hide

At Reception Hide, mallards, teal, coots and greylag geese huddled together in front of the hide. They were later joined by a few gadwall and a lone female shoveler. As the morning went on, the wildfowl began to spread out across the broad, almost like they were chased off by something.

Greylag Geese

Coot

Mallard

Cormorant

Male Teal

Female Teal

A sleepy female Mallard

Gadwall

Female Shoveler

Marsh Harrier

 The marsh harriers were enjoying the wind, swooping effortlessly over the reedbeds like pro windsurfers. About four of them were in the air together at once at one point. I have heard that there are more females than males here at the moment and that Lilly, a white bellied female, has returned to the reserve after a few months of her absence. I have tried to look out for her, but she wasn't about today. A female hen harrier had been reported on the reserve in the last two days, but there was no sign of her either this morning.

As I was tucking into my sandwich, a flock of teal came into land by the front of the hide. As they were descending, something else dropped down towards them at speed before swooping back upwards and over the hide. This was a peregrine falcon attack in action! It was so quick, that it ended in a blink of an eye. It was a failed attempt to grab one of the teal in mid-air, but the teal spotted the incoming strike in the nick of time and plunged into the safety of the water. The peregrine can not risk getting a soaking as it will ruin its feathers and its abillity to fly fast, so as soon as the teal had hit the water, its attack failed. In my point of view inside the hide, it was like someone flinging a yo-yo in front of me from above the window. It was so fast, that I had no idea where it came from. Luckly, a few visitors saw the attack from the blind outside and saw it for a bit longer than I did.

Chinese Water Deer

These same visitors came inside to join us and were then treated with a Chinese water deer which came out of the closest reedbed to the hide on my left. At first, it kept walking behind a cover of reeds and you could just see its outline. Then it came out and fed on the reed stubble on the water's edge for several minutes. I think this is a female due to its lack of long tusks that males have protruding out of their mouths. These dog-sized deer are often described as having a teddy bear expression. You can clearly see that in these photos. They are very odd looking aren't they? They appear very prehistoric looking when you see a male with those tusks. To me, they are like vampire teddy bears wandering through the reedbeds. Its a good thing they are vegetarian!

"Can you see me?"

"Peek-a-boo!"

Ducks and Deer

How To Draw: Foxes

Since being kept awake by that fox earlier this week, I thought they would make a great subject for a How To Draw. Though they are mostly nocturnal creatures, they are regular visitors to most urban gardens, which means a lot of us have a chance of seeing one. It is also the mating season now for our foxes and as I experienced on Sunday night, they make a lot of noise. So now is a good time as any to get out there and draw one.

Stage One

To draw a fox, you need to draw a circle for the head, an oval for the body, another oval for the tail and four lines for the legs. If you want a fox that is sitting or any other position, just adjust these shapes to the way you want it (e.g. tilt the oval for the body upwards slightly for a sitting position). If you want the head to face side on from you, draw a pear-shape instead of a circle. The hind leg is made of two to three lines which form a zig-zag.

Stage Two

Now you need to build onto these basic shapes and add detail. Start by joining the body and tail together and draw around the legs. The hind one is a bit tricky, but shading it and the other legs in does help. Don't forget that the legs on the far side of the fox can be hidden if you want. Lightly shade in the fur, but leave any white patches alone. For the head, draw two triangles for ears at the top of the circle and draw a line between them from half way up (the points of the ears should be poking out) and another line connecting the bases of each ear. Next, at the bottom of the circle, shade in the nose and draw a small circle around it, which is divided in half with a line through the bottom half for the mouth. From where the line divides the small circle around the nose, on each side, draw a line going upwards and draw the eye at the end of each line. You also need Two lines going horizontal for the white cheeks of your fox.

Stage Three

Redraw over your fox in pen. To create the texture of fur, create a series of small lines which overlap each other. Shade lightly on some parts and heavier on others. Shade the legs black, but a little less so on the legs on the opposite side of the fox.

Stage Four

 Colour your fox in to finish it off. I first use a light layer of yellow, before applying orange and highlights of brown, red and grey. Leave the white parts white, though I have very lightly created texture for the fur.

Stage One

My next drawing is a close up of a fox's head, just for fun. I roughly plotted out the shapes that make up the head, ears and snout using circles, lines and two triangles (for the ears).

Stage Two

Starting from the left ear, I began to build up the shape with extra lines for the edge of the ear and by shading the inner ear. I then create a bridge of fur shading (a series of small lines for the texture of fur) and work on the other ear. Continuing from my bridge, I spread outwards with more fur shading, gradually heading south to the nose. Once I had created the nose, I then started to build the snout in the same way as before, but on a bigger scale this time. At the same time as building the snout, I work out where the eyes go and drew them in.

Stage Three

I then redrew the fox with my biro. This time, however, I start at the nose. From here, I could improve the shape of the snout by making it slightly smaller and thinner. Slowly, I worked my way up the snout by shading in lines of fur, drawing over the eyes and ears along the way. I left the whiskers for last.

Stage Four

Once I had finished and rubbed out the pencil, I finally could colour in my fox. Yellow first, then a light orange, a darker orange and highlights of brown and grey. I finished off my fox by adding more fur texture with my pen.

And there you have it. Aren't foxes beautiful? Why not have a go yourselves. If you put some food out in your garden, you may have a subject to draw in no time. I hope you have enjoyed today's How To Draw? if you have any suggestions for the next, please comment below.

Jan 20th Strumpshaw Fen

A misty start to the morning at Strumpshaw Fen

It was a misty start to this morning at Strumpshaw with the pump house just about visible in the murk from the other side of the meadow trail. There wasn't much about during my morning walk apart from 3 buzzards and a kestrel. Bullfinches were calling in the woods somewhere, but I couldn't locate them.

Buzzard

Lichen

Goldfinch

Icy scene at Reception Hide

The view from Reception Hide looked very different from when I saw it last week. Today, the broad was frozen over with a sheet of ice. Only the left hand channel was open water like a mini lake and it extended towards the reedy islands as a narrow channel. It did thaw out a little bit as the morning went on, expanding this mini lake slightly. This small area of open water was a refuge for the ducks and coots. Though most of them prefered being in the water, some fancied sitting around on the ice. Occasionally, they take to the air and return, slipping across the ice as they land. It was very amusing to watch!

Mallard

Mallard and Coot

Shoveler

Teal

Moorhen

White Mallard

Mute Swan

Being much bigger than the ducks, the swans were moving around the ice very cautiously. I watched them curiously as they took each step at a time with care. When they neared the water, they gave up walking and slid on their bellies like a taboggan, using their feet to push themselves along. Cobber the black swan was also on the ice and was less careful when walking about on it and nearly slipped over on a few occasions. For an Australian-originated species, it probably wished it was still over there. But out of the swans on the ice, it was a juvenile mute swan that was having a much tougher time. It was constantly bullied off the water by Cobber and the other two mute swans and was forced to sit it out on the ice for most of the morning. There was a point when Cobber grabbed the young swan's tail and as it launched itself across the ice, Cobber was dragged along with it like a sled pulled by a pack of huskies!

Juvenile Mute Swan

Cobber the Black Swan

Whoops!

Marsh Harrier

The marsh harriers patrolling the reedbeds as always. About 3-4 were up in the air together at once. They even perched on the cluster of bushes and trees sticking out of the reedbed to my right together. These three marsh harriers were not 'friends' though, as they constantly swooped at one another now and then in minnor disputes over space.

Three Marsh Harriers together (the third is in the bush on the left)

After my shift was over, I was given a lift by a colleague to Brundall Station. When we parted ways, I reached for my wallet in my pocket to get the money ready for the train. But I couldn't find it! It had fallen out somewhere! Panic ensued and I called my mum to call Strumpshaw and to help search for it down her end. Thankfully, Mum found it in her car as she dropped me off at the reserve earlier this morning. A sigh of relief! But without any money for a train, I had to wait for her to pick me up again. Sorry Mum!