New Artwork - Yellow Warbler

Yellow warblers’ nests are frequently parasitized by the brown-headed cowbird. Upon recognizing one of cowbirds' eggs, yellow warblers will often smother it with a new layer of nesting material. They will usually not try to save any of their own eggs that have already been laid but produce a replacement clutch. They have been known to build as many as six tiers of nests in some cases! Sometimes, the parents desert a parasitized nest altogether and build a new one.

Read more about the Yellow Warbler here.

I fell in love with warblers during last year’s spring bird migration in southern Maine. There are so many different types ranging from the drab to the brightly colored. The yellow warbler certainly lives up to its name and I was lucky to spy these fast moving birds during a few birding adventures. I hope you enjoy my Yellow Warbler artwork inspired by my birding experience last spring.

Prints are now available in my online shop

New Artwork - Northern Flicker

Northern Flickers are a large woodpecker, roughly 12 to 14 inches with a wingspan up to 21 inches. They have black bars on the back and wings and a necklace-like black patch on the upper chest. Other common names for the Northern Flicker include clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. 

They feed by probing with their beak and sometimes may catch insects in flight.  Ants are their most important source of food. A Flicker's stomach can contain thousands of ants. It also eats a variety of other insects and wild fruit, especially wild cherries, dogwood, sumac and poison ivy. It may also visit suet feeders during the winter months.

Read more about the amazing Northern Flicker here.

My first time seeing a Northern Flicker was in the Summer of 2020 while birding with my mom at Beach Plum Farm in Ogunquit. It's quite a beautiful bird and I was drawn to its unique markings. This beautiful bird did not seem afraid of us as it went about the business of feeding on insects and we were able to admire it from a distance for quite some time. I hope you enjoy my graphic artwork of the Northern Flicker inspired by that day.

Northern Flicker prints are now available in my online shop!

New Artwork - Mount Blue State Park

Mount Blue State Park – what a wonderful place! It’s Maine’s largest state park, consisting of roughly 8,000 acres of prime recreation area in the Western Mountains. My husband and I camped there for one night in early September, one of my favorite times of year in Maine when the air is warm during the day and crisp at night. The view of Mount Blue when we emerged from the wooded path connecting our campsite to the beach was stunning. A storm was blowing past the blue-hued mountain, creating a dramatic sky that reflected in Webb Lake. After stopping to wade in the chilly water and make a quick sketch of the scene, we ambled around the shoreline and found all sorts of neat places to picnic tucked away among the trees. I'm sure it's quite a busy place during the Summer months, but we were fortunate to have the place almost completely to ourselves that day. Although our trip was too short to hike Mount Blue, we’ll definitely go back to tackle it soon. I imagine the view from the top is quite stunning as well!

Here I am making a quick pencil sketch of Mount Blue from Webb Lake.

Mount Blue State Park prints are now available in my online shop!