Le Nichoir and Wildcard

Le Nichoir is a wild bird rehabilitation centre in Hudson, Quebec about an hours drive from Ottawa and they are hosting a fund raising event called Wildcard. They are calling upon artists to donate small 5" X 7" original pieces of art that will be sold at $ 65.00 each.

Each original is to be signed on the back only so that the purchaser does not know who the artist is. With an event date of August 21st, le Nichoir already has over 260 artists who have committed to donating Wildcards.

They have received donations from 10 Canadian RCA members including:

Philippe Beha
Leslie Poole
Gathie Falk
Bruno Bobak
Joseph-Richard Veilleux
George Walker
Robert Bateman
Marcel Braitstein
John A. Schweitzer
Pnina Gagnon

Here is my contribution to th effort: "Fuzzy" is a young Canada Goose gosling that I photographed last week along the edge of the Rideau River in Ottawa.

Red Winged Black Bird Update

A few days ago I pleased to see that all four eggs had hatched successfully and from a distance the mother could be seen collecting insects; however, sad news came 5 days later when I went back and the male was not guarding the area any longer. I checked the nest and found it empty and abandoned.



The nest was not disturbed and the grasses supporting the nest were not broken either leading me to believe that either another bird or perhaps a Red Squirrel had found the nestlings.

An art piece will still be done and hopefully some of the other nests will have better results.

Red Winged Black Bird Nesting

While walking our Saint Bernard I discovered a nesting Red Winged Black Bird and decided to try and take some photos throughout the nesting/incubation period with the goal of producing several pieces of art.

When I found the nest there hadn't been any eggs laided yet but the female wasn't flying too far away so I knew she was ready to lay. Within a few days the eggs started to appear and she is now sitting on 4 bluish-green spotted eggs.

We will wait for the first to hatch and try and keep our distance so that she isn't disturbed too often.

The Gift

The Gift is done and heading to a gallery. This piece is a triptych and is available in two sizes. The full size will usually be framed as three individual pieces where as the a reduced scale version will be framed as a single image. Single full size frames can be ordered if you wish as well it's just that this size would call for an oversize matt and glass order.

This piece is from a photograph that an acquaintance took and was kind enough to allow me to use it as reference. It depicts a ritual that takes place while nest building for swallows where the male birds find feathers for their mate to line her nest.