Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Dorper sheep


 
Watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Sketch-book 

My neighbour’s sheep – a while ago some ewes had lambs and it was the first time for MANY, MANY years that I actually held a little lamb in my arms again – oh my word! I’d forgotten how precious that can be! I wanted to take it home…!

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Singing sweet songs...

 
W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm  (The back-ground of this painting is actually White, don't know why Blogger is making it grey!)

‘Rise up this morning,
smile with the rising sun,
three little birds 
sit by my doorstep,
singing sweet songs
of melodies pure and true, 
singing,
this is my message to you.’

::

Friday, September 23, 2016

A handful of Southerly wind

Black waterproof Pilot Calligraphy Lettering Pen sketch, candle wax and W&N ‘Sepia’ watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

The historic mining village of Kaapsehoop is situated about 25 kilometers from the town of Nelspruit in the South African province of Mpumalanga. It is within this paradise-like setting that the legendary wild horses of Kaapsehoop roam freely. Kaapschehoop has the only wild herds in South Africa, whilst the other nearest known wild horse occurrence is in Namibia.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Seagulls at Durban Harbour

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 
Grey-headed Gull (Larus cirrocephalus)

The Port of Durban, commonly called Durban Harbour, is the largest and busiest shipping terminal in sub-Saharan Africa. It handles up to 31.4 million tons of cargo each year and is the fourth largest container terminal in the Southern Hemisphere.

When visiting my daughter in Ballito on the North Coast, I always make a special trip to Durban just to go and see the Seagulls. For some unknown reason, there are no seagulls in the Ballito area.

The closest two breeding colonies of the Grey-headed gull to Durban are the large nesting concentrations at Lake St Lucia up the North Coast and in Gauteng Province (believe it or not!). The total southern African population of this species has been estimated at about 2000 pairs. Durban Bay, where up to 920 individuals were counted during one study, therefore seasonally supports a highly significant proportion of the total southern African population during the non-breeding season.




Thursday, March 3, 2016

Gemsbuck in the shadows

W&N watercolour in hand-made sketchbook with satin-finish linen paper. 

Gemsbuck (Oryx gazella) under a lone tree in the Kalahari (South Africa). Done from my imagination.

I’ve got this little hand-made sketchbook with a satin-finish linen paper and I can sit for hours churning out these little 7″ × 4″ (17cm x 10cm) watercolour sketches. I find it totally calming and it also satisfies my need to fiddle! This paper is very unforgiving, can’t take pencil marks, so you can’t do any preliminary drawing and also no erasing. The paper (or linen) virtually disintegrates under an eraser. Once you put colour to paper, that’s it! But it does allow for a lovely flow of the paint, which I enjoy immensely as I never know exactly what I’m going to end up with.

Monday, February 29, 2016

Black-headed Oriole

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

The Black-headed Oriole (Oriolus larvatus) is a frequent visitor to my garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa) and I’m always thrilled to hear his liquid call, upon which I rush out to refill the oranges and apples, which seem to be his favourite fruit.

Swartkopwielewaal [Afrikaans]







Saturday, February 20, 2016

The Red Bishop

W&N watercolours on Visual 200gsm 

Southern Red Bishop Euplectes orix
Indigenous to Africa (south of equator)

My Red Bishops have just come into their breeding colours and some of the juveniles are a decidedly mottled lot! There’s a lot of fighting and chattering going on, trying to establish dominance and vying for the best spots in the garden.

This little chap obligingly sat for a session while I did a quick outline sketch and then hurriedly added some colour before he flitted off again on some serious business or another.

What a cunning mixture of sentiment, pity, tenderness, irony surrounds adolescence, what knowing watchfulness! Young birds on their first flight are hardly so hovered around!
- Georges Bernanos







Sunday, February 14, 2016

Red-chested Cuckoo (Piet-My-Vrou)

W&N watercolours on Bockingford 300gsm 

30th October 2015, 8.04am, and I’ve just heard the Piet-My-Vrou (Red-chested Cuckoo – Cuculus solitarius) for the first time this season! It’s rather late, I normally hear them at the beginning of October, but it’s as if they’ve waited for the first rains before being heard! (We had 20mm of rain last night and 15mm the night before, so the world around here in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa) is looking and smelling sparkling clean!) They’re extremely shy and very hard to spot, but I managed to get a quick (not-so-good!) shot with my camera before he disappeared back into the thick foliage. Had to use my bird book to complete all the colours.

I have held most bird species in my hands at least once, but with the Red-chested Cuckoo I have not had that pleasure…

Piet-my-vrou [Afrikaans]







Monday, February 8, 2016

Guineas are winged wonders

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

After years of not seeing any guinea fowl around our property (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa), I was lucky enough to have a visit from them a couple of weeks ago and I was totally thrilled!

a guinea fowl
molting polka dot feathers—
I see
handmade earrings

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Amethyst Sunbird female

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

Black Sunbird feeding on the Kniphofia (Red Hot Poker) flowers in my garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa).

The Amethyst Sunbird, also called the Black Sunbird (Chalcomitra amethystine) mainly occurs in Africa south of the equator. Its natural habitat is dry savannah but it is extremely fond of gardens.
It goes out of its way to visit a large clump of nectar-bearing plants. Here in my garden, it feeds on nectar from the Aloe, Kniphofia, Halleria lucida (Tree fuchsia) and a nectar mix in one of my bird feeders. It’s diet is supplemented with insects and often hawks flying insects from the trees or bushes, also gleaning them from leaves and branches. Nectar is obtained either from flowers or from garden feeders, which it uses readily (note that in feeding experiments it was found to prefer sucrose rather than sugar).

This Sunbird is not threatened, in fact its range has increased recently due to the spread of wooded gardens.

Swartsuikerbekkie [Afrikaans]






Sunday, January 31, 2016

Red-billed Quelea Juvenile Male

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

Rooibekkwelea [Afrikaans] – (Quelea quelea)

Oh my! The Red-billed Queleas have moved into my garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)! When I feed in the mornings, they descend on the feeding tables by the dozens! They are very wary and skittish and the slightest movement will send them fleeing, taking off like one body and returning as one in waves of motion, absolutely fascinating to watch. But the rest of the garden birds have a problem getting to the food and every day there seems to be more and more of the Queleas.

At the moment the males are in their full breeding plumage, with their bright red bills and black face. The juvenile males stand out amongst the other birds like a beacon with their pre-adult little cream caps. Within 2-3 months of hatching, juvenile birds complete a post-juvenile moult to resemble non-breeding adults, but with cream head, whitish cheeks and buff edges to flight feathers and wing coverts, followed 1-2 months later by a pre-nuptial contour moult, when they begin to assume the adult breeding plumages.

Queleas are the most abundant wild birds on the planet, with an estimated population of 1.5 billion birds, occurring across much of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the lowland forests of West Africa, arid areas of southern Namibia, south-western Botswana and the southern half of South Africa. It is most prolific in semi-arid habitats such as thorn-veld and cultivated land, but it may also occupy exceptionally wet or dry areas. Not threatened, it is so abundant and such a pest that millions of birds are culled annually using explosives at roost sites and aerial spraying, but even that doesn’t have any long term affect on its population.









Thursday, September 10, 2015

Warthog sketch - Special!


A fun sketch done in ink with Pilot Black Calligraphy Lettering Pen and watercolour on Ashrad sketching paper

The most commonly seen wild pig of the African Bush, Warthogs (Phacochoerus aethiopicus) are day animals and spend most of their time looking for food and are normally found in family groups. They feed mainly on grass and roots, but also take bulbs, fruits, carrion, insects, scorpions, earthworms, centipedes and bones.

They are members of the same family as domestic pigs, but present a much different appearance. These sturdy hogs are not among the world’s most aesthetically pleasing animals—their large, flat heads are covered with “warts,” which are actually protective bumps. Warthogs also sport four sharp tusks. They are mostly bald, but they do have some sparse hair and a thicker mane on their backs.

Buy a Greeting Card on RedBubble!

 Warthog sketch Greeting Card (also available on other products)

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Saturday, December 28, 2013

Barn Owl / Nonnetjie-Uil


W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - ©Maree Clarkson

Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

Afrikaans : Nonnetjie-uil

Ghostly pale and (not) strictly nocturnal, Barn Owls (Tyto alba) are silent predators of the night world. Lanky, with a whitish face, chest, and belly, and buffy upperparts, this owl roosts in hidden, quiet places during the day. By night, they hunt on buoyant wingbeats in open fields and meadows. You can find them by listening for their eerie, raspy calls, quite unlike the hoots of other owls. Despite a worldwide distribution, Barn Owls are declining in parts of their range due to habitat loss. I for one, do not see them as often as I used to.

Once welcomed by farmers as one form of pest control, the population is now under threat from modern farming techniques, e.g. the destruction of hedgerows & meadowland, which affect their prey, the removal of old barns & buildings, which were their nesting places and the use of chemicals to control rodents.

The Owl Rescue Centre http://www.owlrescue911.webs.com/ is the only raptor centre in South Africa that primarily focus on owl species. They give all their time and attention to owl species because of the high mortality rate of owls in South Africa, making owls vulnerable to a decreasing population. They rehabilitate and release 200 – 250 Spotted Eagle Owls, 100 – 150 Barn Owls and 80 -100 other owl species each year. SHOULD YOU FIND AN OWL THAT YOU SUSPECT MIGHT BE INJURED, PLEASE CALL THEM ON
082 719 5463 (24/7 emergency line – South Africa)

T. alba is found almost anywhere in the world except polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Alpide belt, most of Indonesia, and the Pacific islands. However, they have been introduced to control rodents in the Hawaiian island of Kuai. ..........

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

White-backed Vulture

 W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - unframed 

Africa’s most common large vulture, the White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) is an accomplished scavenger that feeds on the carcasses of Africa’s large animals and is one of a group of 8 species occurring in Africa. Its plumage is dark brown with black skin on the neck and head, making the white lower-back, for which it is named, even more prominent.

The white-backed vulture has black eyes and a strong, hooked black bill, contrasting with its pale crown and hindneck. As they age, the plumage of white-backed vultures becomes paler and plainer, especially the female’s; conversely, juveniles are darker, with lighter brown streaks on their feathers. Info from Arkive

Vultures have historically been grouped with other raptors on the basis of their overall appearance. Often seen soaring high in the sky, they are often mistaken for hawks or eagles.

However, it has recently been determined that the seven species of New World vultures are more closely related to storks than to the hawks and eagles with which they were originally grouped. Unlike all other raptors, vultures are not birds of prey. They feed solely on carrion, preferring animals that have been dead for two to four days. African White-Backed Vultures have no natural predators, except humans.

Item ID : WhitebackedVulture

Price : R350.00 including postage







Sunday, August 4, 2013

Where have all the Guineas gone?


Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - unframed 
Helmeted guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) 

Birds are indicators of the environment. If they are in trouble, we know we’ll soon be in trouble. 
- Roger Tory Peterson

I used to have dozens of guinea fowl pass through our smallholding here in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa), but these days it’s like Christmas seeing just a few of them. When we moved to Tarlton in the middle 70’s, we were one of a few owners living on the smallholdings and there were large tracts of open land with hundreds of mammals, birds and reptiles that crossed our paths daily. Snakes were rife and regularly had to be removed to a safer place, now we only see a snake a couple of times in the year. I used to have wild hares entering my garden and eating my Marigolds; I haven’t seen an hare for about 7 years. The same with hedgehogs, monitors, tortoises and jackal.

The area is now totally built up and our smallholding is now flanked by people on all sides, property fenced and surrounded by high walls – there are few, if any, empty tracts of land anymore
 and I’m just wondering where all the wildlife has managed to find a safe refuge…

ITEM ID : WhereHaveGuineasGone

PRICE - R350.00 including postage

African Joy and Sorrow (SOLD)


W&N Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm – Guinea standing on the wall, forlornly calling for his missing wife - unframed (SOLD)

“The triumph of life is the joy experienced thereafter.”
- Maree

A couple of years ago, one of my guinea fowl sitting on eggs was killed by a dog, leaving 10 eggs, on the point of hatching, without a mother. I gathered all the eggs and put them in a basket with a hot water bottle, trying to keep them warm to see if any of them would hatch. Two days later still nothing, but on the third day I heard a weak peep-peep from one of the eggs. None of the others showed any sign of life, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and open the one that was peeping. I gently peeled away the shell and lifted out a perfectly formed little guinea fowl, and placed him on the warm towel, drying his little body with a soft cloth until he lifted his little head and stared me straight in the eye.

That was the beginning of a beautiful, long relationship with “Guinea”, who spent five years following me everywhere and providing us with endless hours of pleasure with his surprising antics. He even lured a wild guinea fowl female from the wild (they used to pass through our property here in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa, in large flocks, travelling from one field to another) and together they reared 5 clutches of beautiful little guinea fowl, all of whom stayed on our property for many years.

When Guinea’s wife disappeared one day, he was inconsolable, standing on the wall and calling for hours in that haunting ‘phe-twee, phe-twee, phe-twee’ that is so typical of the South African bush. After that, he would often disappear for a day or two until, one day, he didn’t come home at all. I hoped and presumed that he had found another family and was happily roaming the fields surrounding our property.

“This life as you live it now and have lived it, you will have to live again and again, times without number, and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and all the unspeakably small and great in your life must return to you and everything in the same series and sequence — and in the same way this spider and this moonlight among the trees, and this same way this moment and I myself. The eternal hour glass of existence will be turned again and again — and you with it, you dust of dust!” - Friedrich Nietzsche

ITEM ID : AfricanJoyAndSorrow

PRICE - R350.00 including postage


Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Barn Owl hunting 2


Black Pilot FineLiner pen sketch on a coffee-painted back-ground РNescaf̩ instant, strong! РBockingford 300gsm - unframed

A lovely companion painting to Barn Owl hunting 1

The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is the most widely distributed species of owl, and one of the most widespread of all birds. It is also referred to as Common Barn Owl, to distinguish it from other species in the barn owl family Tytonidae.

These pale, nearly worldwide, birds are closely associated with man through their traditional use of barn lofts and church steeples as nesting sites.

Barn Owls are short-lived birds. Most die in their first year of life, with the average life expectancy being 1 to 2 years in the wild.

Although they are easy to identify in the day as they often hunt in daylight, by night you can find them by listening for their eerie, raspy screech, quite unlike the hoots of other owls.

ITEM ID : BarnOwlHunting2

PRICE - R350.00 including postage

Barn Owl hunting 1


Brown Stabilo Fine point 0.4 pen sketch on a coffee-painted back-ground – DalerRowney 300gsm - 8" x 12" unframed

A lovely companion painting to Barn Owl hunting 2

The Barn Owl (Tyta alba) is a frequent visitor to my property (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa) and is not shy to hunt in broad daylight. I often see one pouncing on something in the long grass during the day, flying off with its prize, probably to feed some babies.

Barn Owls love to use man-made structures to build their nests and are very partial to nest boxes one supplies. I’ve always had a box or two in my garden but, sadly to say, the weather has taken it’s toll on them and seeing as I’m past the stage of climbing trees to put one up, it’ll have to wait until I find someone young and agile to do the job for me!

ITEM ID : BarnOwlHunting1

PRICE - R350.00 including postage in South Africa




Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Listen to the Guinea Fowl

 WN watercolour on DalerRowney 220gsm heavy-duty sketching paper 
12" x 8" - unframed

Be grateful for nature. Pay the thunder no mind – listen to the Guinea fowl. And don’t hate anybody.

The Helmeted Guinea Fowl is an African family of insect and seed-eating, ground-nesting birds resembling partridges, but with featherless heads and spangled grey plumage. They are the ultimate low-cost, chemical-free pest control and if your garden is already established and can withstand the scratching, you’ll have a healthy and pest-free garden. And be rewarded with some wonderful antics from these lovely birds.

It is interesting to note that they are monogamous, mating for life. Read more

ITEM ID : ListenToTheGuineafowl
PRICE - R350.00
including postagein South Africa







Saturday, March 9, 2013

The Way of the Crow


W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - unframed
Black Crow (Corvus capensis) 

“If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows.”
-Rev. Henry Ward Beecher mid 1800’s

There is little wonder that crows are very often the subjects of legends, folk-tales, and storytelling traditions around the world, all of which is very deep-seated and arising from myth and folklore thousands of years old. Anyone that has ever spent time with a crow will know how absurd these myths are and that Crows are no more ‘evil’ or ‘dark’ as depicted in these legends than a canary in a cage.

Read more HERE.

ITEM ID : WayOftheCrow

PRICE - R350.00 including postage


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