Páipéar

Pelagic Cormorant I watch 8 of these beautiful birds on the water every day. They stand on floating logs with their wings spread drying their feathers and enjoying the sun’s warmth. They vacate the freezing, northern waters of Alaska and migrate down the western Canadian coast, traveling as far south as California. I am expecting them to leave any day now and travel north again to nest, but some research tells me that they may remain here through the year. I will keep my... eyes on them to see. Both of these drawings are made with charcoal and pastel. Spring is here and the bird migrations have started. Have you noticed any new birds arriving in your area? Have a great day

Elk Drawing and Antlers Look at the size of this rack! My charcoal and pastel drawing of the elk measures 38 x 50 and the set of antlers are at least as tall... and wide. Antlers are branch bones made of keratin, the same material as our fingernails. They grow incredibly fast on the male members of the deer family. Caribou, known as reindeer are the only species where both the females and the males have antlers. Antlers are necessary during breeding season to rub on vegetation to scent mark and also to spar with other males to gain dominance. Once the fall rutting season is over, the antlers fall off and new antlers will start to grow again in the spring. Have a great day and thank you for stopping by.

Leid Foghlama an Lae Dúshlán Éanbhreathnaithe sa Bhaile http://birdwatchcork.com Tá an chuid is mó againn ag caitheamh cuid mhór ama sa bhaile. Deis iontach... atá ann an t-am a ghlacadh breathnú amach do na héin éagsúla seo ón fhuinneog. Tá na hainmneacha i nGaeilge uilig ar an phóstaer iontach seo fosta. The majority of us are currently spending a lot of time at home. This is a brilliant opportunity to take some time to look out for the birds from our window. All the birds' names are included in this fantastic poster. Gaeloideachas Chontae Dhoire Gaeloideachas PEIG.ie Glór na nGael Glór Na Móna

Beautiful Mountain Bluebirds The startlingly beautiful Mountain Bluebird returns to nest in Alberta as soon as the first week of March. There 2.9 BILLION FEWER BIRDS in Canada and the Us since 1970!!!!... You can help! Please consider joining a bird conservancy in your area, regardless of where you live. I first caught glimpses of this beautiful wee bird while visiting my son and his partner in rural Alberta. One of their neighbours is a member of the Mountain Bluebird Trails Conservation group and she manages over 150 bluebird nesting boxes. 'In an attempt to slow or perhaps reverse this decline, the Mountain Bluebird Trails Conservation Society has installed and maintained over 2,600+ Mountain Bluebird nest boxes throughout Southern Alberta, Canada.' If you live in an area where bluebirds habitat, please check out https://bluebirdtrails.org/ Thank you, happy late winter, the nesting season is almost upon us! This image of a mountain bluebird is a combination of watercolour and colour pencils.

Drawing large northern hemisphere mammals since the start of the new year! Please check out my other FB page Sibealfoyleart and my Instagram @sibealfoyleart Thank you and have a great day

Shore Birds Pelagic Cormorant This long neck sleek elegant beauty is a Pelagic Cormorant. It is the smallest of the Pacific Cormorants and migrates down from Alaska to as far as California for the winter and heads back up north to nest there in the spring.... They prefer small colonies and deep rocky water close to shore which describes where we are lucky enough to be perched way out here on the Canadian West Coast. I can watch them drive, swim and fly low over the water from my studio as I go about my day and am so grateful for this. This is compressed charcoal drawing with a touch of red pastel, on Arches paper. I just loved the deep black velvet of compressed charcoal... it is as old and soulful as time itself. There are many organizations involved in the protection and conservation of marine birds and I have posted some links below if you are interested in finding out more. Have a great day https://www.birdscanada.org//british-columbia-coastal-wat/ https://www.raincoast.org/projects/marine-birds/ https://georgiastrait.org//marine-habitat-protection-thro/

First Bumblebee We just planted this blooming witch hazel tree a few days ago and I was thrilled to see our first bumblebee of the season hanging out in the flowers. It is still cold out here on the coast and as bumblebees do not store their food overwinter it is essential that early and late blooming plants are close by for them to feed on. We are planting as many native plants as possible along with other flowing plants pollinators love. They need us to restore and create habitats for them to survive. Have a happy Sunday

Arctic Redpoll These hardy finches nest and breed in the boreal forests of northern Canada and Greenland Some withstand the severe arctic winters and others venture south into Alberta. They look like little fluffy snowballs and are very white in colour. with a slash of red on their crown. The artic redpoll travels in small groups and rarely visit backyard feeders like the common redpolls, preferring to stick to remote undeveloped areas.

HOLIDAY SALE, 20% ENDS TOMORROW DEC. 15TH! www.paipear.com... Irish & European website, www.paipear.ie This pastel drawing is of the Mountain bluebird, another beautiful bird which hopefully will be migrating back to its breeding grounds in the foothills of Alberta, as early as March. These birds are among the first to nest and It has to lay claim to a nesting box before the swallows head north and try to move in!

Winter Berries For Wildlife Snowberries and arbutus berries are in abundance this year and the birds are going mad for them. They are so beautiful to behold during these dark days. The snowberries are fed on by elk, antelope and birds but are poisonous for us humans. The arbutus berries are edible but I have not tried them, although our dog, Bella loves them. Our new COVID rules here on the Canadian West Coast prevents us from socialising this holiday, but we can still stay i...n touch by writing notes to our friends. Páipéar by Sibéal's holiday sale has 20% off until Dec. 15th. Our Canadian website is, www.paipear.com Our Irish website is, www.paipear.ie Gura Míle and Thanks for reading!