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Day 5 of Birbfest: Crimson Topaz Hummingbird. I am not entirely convinced this bird is real. The elegant swan neck, the little tail dongles, the floofy legs, the vibrant autumn colors. I am confused. I adore it. Where has this bird been all my life

Day 6 of Birbfest: Stone Chat. Absolute cutie with wonderful feet. We had fun with this one.

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Hey, yeah, sorry, I gotta go. No don't worry, my guy will call your guy.

Stonechat, Dinokeng Nature Reserve

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Stonechat

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The bold little Stone Chat

It’s name comes from it’s distinctive call which is described so well in the poem I added below by Norman MacCaig. It is said to sound like flint on flint, two stones being struck together. It is a small bird, a bit smaller than a Robin with a bold black head, white collar, rosy breast with an assertive call. It has a big head and a short tail. They prefer coastal farmland habitats for breeding and nesting low to the ground where they dine on insects. They like to perch out in the open sitting upright, often in the gorse. When resting they can be seen fluttering their wings.

Brave and beautiful.

Unexpected opportunities.

A few weeks ago, I visited mum’s friends and neighbours asking for help. I needed someone with a good enough scanner to scan my ‘Caribbean Woodpecker’, so I could then get it to print and added to my ‘Little Shop’.

Earlier that day, I’d been bold enough to pop in to a local Art Gallery and Shop to see if my work was up to par and if they’d be interested in selling some of my prints. It was a bold step for me.

So, with a spring in my step, and hoping that mum’s friends would be able to help me, knowing that they are deeply involved with ‘The Filey Bird Observatory and Group’. I hopped round with my art work and knocked on their door.

I didn’t expect what happened next.

It turned out that they thought my ‘Caribbean Woodpecker’ was quite good and I was invited to draw or paint some birds, from some of their own photos, to contribute to the The Filey Bird Observatory & Group (FBOG) Annual Bird Report - how exciting!

I awaited eagerly for the photos to arrive by email. I was sent 12 to choose from and to do as many as I liked and with a 4 week deadline.

I liked so many, but I decided on this little bird - the Stone Chat. Because he is so small and so brave and I felt like him a bit after I’d had such an eventful week breaking through insecurity, ‘What if I’m not good enough?’, lack of confidence and self discipline!

Here is the ‘Stone Chat’ which I drew from an incredibly beautiful photo mum’s neighbour had taken. He was so pleased with this - I think he is secretly hoping I’ll do another. I’ll try my best.

He said that for their annual bird report, which is really beautiful and there is more information below, they like their photos and artwork to help people identify the birds, so there is need for accuracy and he said I had got it’s posture right. He said that my ink drawing is good enough for people to be able to identify the Stone Chat, and so we could do without colour.

Later, I may decide to add colour to it. We will see.

"‘Stonechat on Cul Beg’ A flint-on-flint ticking – and there he is, Trim and dandy – in square miles of bracken And bogs and boulders a tiny work of art, Bright as an illumination on a monkish parchment. I queue up to watch him. He makes me a group of solemn connoisseurs trying to see the brushstrokes. I want to thumb the air in their knowing way. I murmur Chinese black, I murmur alizarin. But the little picture with four flirts and a delicate Up-swinging’s landed on another boulder. He gives me a stained-glass look and keeps Chick-chacking at me. I suppose he’s swearing. You’d expect something like oboes or piccolos (Though other birds, too, have pebbles in their throats – And of them I love best the airy skylark Twittering like marbles squeezed in your fist). Cul Beg looks away – his show’s been stolen. And the up-staged loch would yawn if it could. Only the benign sun in his fatherly way Beams on his bright child throwing a tantrum." -- Norman MacCaig

The poem ‘Stonechat on Cul Beg’ was written by Norman MacCaig who was born in Edinburgh in 1910. He often wrote about nature, people, animals and places and often during his visits to his spiritual home of Assynt, Scotland, in the northwest Highlands. He is said to be one of Scotland’s best loved poets.

The Filey Bird Observatory & Group (FBOG)

‘The Filey Bird Observatory & Group (FBOG) aims include the recording and studying of Filey’s birds, and protecting and enhancing local habitats for wildlife (including ownership and management of several nature reserves). Our work is entirely voluntary and reliant on our membership and their generosity. Members receive a range of benefits, as well as regular newsletters, the annual report, and the satisfaction of helping the study and protection of local wildlife.’

‘Membership now stands at over 120, our reserves are in fine fettle, dedicated bird study and wildlife recording are at the forefront of our work, the bird report is going from strength to strength, and FBOG is flourishing in a challenging era.’ - Filey Bird Observatory and Group. History – Filey Bird Observatory and Group (fbog.org.uk)

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