#3015 "Black Rat Snake Friend"

   #3015 "Black Rat Snake Friend"    
36 x 12 inches
April 15th, 2026

As a kid (maybe 8 years old), I once stopped a friend of my brother from mindlessly stomping on ant hills and killing the colonies. Ernie was a bully with no respect for nature of any kind. My brother probably stopped him from retaliating, but I do not recall that part of the story. Ernie was much bigger than me and had a vice-like grip which hurt my arm, but right is right. Might is typically wrong. 

Snakes of all kinds are another typical victim of abusive people. As a youngster, I recall adults using all sorts of weapons to kill any kind of snake on sight. My protests were ignored. They feared the snakes, no matter how harmless they might have been. 

As adults, our properties have always been sanctuaries for all creatures. I am not fond of ticks and the diseases that they spread, but lots of creatures enjoy eating them, including the possums, which are migrating northward with the climate crisis. 

The Singleton Sanctuary in the very heart of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere is very special. We are blessed with all varieties of nature. The 2010 BioBlitz established a baseline for the species that shared the uncut and virgin Carolinian ecosystem with us. We hope those numbers have increased since then as a result of our ongoing activities. 

The Gray Ratsnake is a particularly popular resident.  This beautiful 6-foot-long Gray Ratsnake was on the former endangered species list, but is no longer protected. The logic and motives of politicians simply elude me. Deeds speak louder than their hollow, hypocritical political promises and sound bites. 

Gray Ratsnakes eat up to 100 rodents a year, helping to curtail the spread of Lyme disease by removing the disease vector. Politicians do not care... don't know... don't bother with anything but getting re-elected. 

The long, dark snakes with creamy bellies that climb trees can be unnerving for sure. We make special efforts to ensure that they are safe and secure and prospering within the Singleton Sanctuary. I maintained special snake nesting boxes for several years, but the resident snakes preferred the natural, undisturbed hibernacula, which are plentiful along the rocky ridges of Singleton. 

A few of the Gray Ratsnake nesting boxes were deployed in various locations at Singleton.

Black Ratsnakes (formerly Elaphe obsoleta) were officially reclassified in 2001 after genetic studies revealed they were three distinct species rather than one single, widespread species. 

The single Black Ratsnake was split into three distinct, geographically separated species: 

• Eastern Ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) 
• Central Ratsnake (Pantherophis spiloides) - Singleton ratsnake species
• Western Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus) 

It is easy to get confused. With the split, our Central Ratsnake is a Gray Ratsnake. They aren't actually gray, and Central Ratsnakes become black when they are adults. With the above split, there are no longer any formally called Black Ratsnakes, even though I used that as the title of my painting. I am not certain that the reference texts have all of this sorted out yet... the details only really matter to the experts. We protect all sankes anyway. 

We teach Singleton visitors to respect all nature... bears, snakes and even the ticks. The snakes will even crawl under my easel while I paint. 

Gray Ratsnakes are quite at home at Singleton, and we strongly encourage them. Unsurprisingly, these very impressive creatures do not appreciate being measured for prosperity. Sometimes they leave behind their shed skins for me and my Great Crested Flycatcher friends to enjoy. The Great Crested Flycatcher uses snake skins as building material in their nests. One shed measured out at more than 6 feet long with my tape measure. 

An Ontario Gray Ratsnake requires 15 to 20 years to grow to a length of over 6 feet in the wild. Canada's cool climate drastically limits their growth rate while ratsnakes in warmer, southern parts of North America grow much faster.

The following maps summarize Gray Ratsnake observations in Ontario. Singleton is located at the red star on the maps to the right. 

Sometimes nature might seem cruel. A group of three large Gray Ratsnakes once discovered nesting Tree Swallows in one of my bird houses that lacked the protective metal cone. The intelligent snakes appeared to communicate and collaborate. They dined well that afternoon, and that is nature. 

I have many memories and photos of Gray Ratsnakes from the Singleton Sanctuary. Images are worth thousands of words. The snakes know us, and I can imagine that some almost smile to see us. 

The Gray Ratsnake was already assessed when the Endangered Species Act took effect in 2008.

In 2025, the Ontario Conservative Government tabled Bill 5 called “Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act.” Amidst reducing environmental and heritage protections and proposing Special Economic Zones that bypass all protective legislation, the Ontario Government repealed the Ontario Endangered Species Act, replacing it with the "Species Conservation Act" on March 30, 2026. The misappropriately named Species Conservation Act offers much less protection to species at risk of extinction. Essentially, business and money override the environment and nature. Shame. Shame. Shame.

The wording of these political documents reminds me of "doublespeak" and the writings of George Orwell in his 1949 dystopian social science fiction novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four". George was absolutely right. His forecast only missed the mark by forty years, more or less. Not bad for an author, but not nearly close enough for a meteorologist. 

To summarize, the misdeeds of the world's leaders have resulted in the escalation of the climate crisis to the point that the Earth is now in the verification stages of the dire predictions made by oil companies' own scientists in the 1960s and 1970s. A few people have become incredibly wealthy at the expense of everything else in the past sixty years, when preventative action was still a possibility.

As well, the planet is racing through the Sixth Mass Extinction, the ongoing, rapid decline in global biodiversity driven entirely by human activity. Species are currently disappearing at rates 1,000 to 10,000 times faster than the natural pre-human background rate. This catastrophic loss is primarily caused by climate change, habitat destruction, pollution, and the overexploitation of natural resources. Ontario politicians are actively aiding and abetting these extinctions using Bill 5 as a slash-and-burn tool.

Sadly, bullies grow up and typically do not or can not mature or develop wisdom with age - their personalities being rigidly cast in stone by the age of ten. Sometimes, glad-handing, smooth-talking psychopaths even get elected into positions of great authority. The above is the result. Stomping on all of nature as if everything were insignificant anthills. Power does corrupt, fueled by greed and the insatiable lust for more, ever more. 

I continue to advocate for what I believe is the good fight, but must admit that I find solace only in front of my easel, as pictured above or out in the Singleton forest. Nothing will change until those responsible for their misdeeds are actually held responsible for their crimes against nature and the environment, which are, in effect, "crimes against humanity". If they only understood that we are all just a part of nature.  

For this and much more art, go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3013 "Magnolia Warbler"

#3013 "Magnolia Warbler"
11 X 14 inches oils on canvas.
Started at 10:00 am, Wednesday, March 25th, 2026

My friend John Verburg. John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer, provided me with an inspiring image of a male Golden-winged Warbler in its vibrant breeding plumage. This is the next in the singing bird series, although its beak is not moving... 

The Magnolia Warbler is a bird with a "misleading" name, as it was named after a magnolia tree by Alexander Wilson in 1811, despite preferring to breed in spruce and fir forests. These birds are known for being exceptionally messy nest builders and having "bad" bird names because they aren't typically found in magnolias. 

They frequently join foraging flocks of chickadees during their migration. The “chickadee-dee-dee” call is a possible marker for the presence of the magnolia warbler. 

Magnolia Warblers breed in dense stands of young conifer trees, especially spruce in the north and hemlock in the south. During migration, they forage in dense areas along forest edges, woodlots, and parks. On the wintering grounds, they occur from sea level to 5,000 feet in a variety of areas, including cacao plantations, orchards, forests, and thickets. 

Magnolia Warblers primarily eat caterpillars, especially spruce budworm when it is abundant. They also eat insects and spiders, and occasionally take fruit in the fall. They tend to forage on the outer edges of branches, searching the undersides of needles and leaves for prey. 

Males and females weave together a sloppy and flimsy-looking nest of grasses and weed stalks built on a foundation of twigs. They line the nest with horsehair fungus. 

Magnolia Warblers hop from branch to branch in dense stands of young conifer trees. They pick insects primarily from the undersides of conifer needles and foliage. Males sing most intensely at dawn and dusk and even sing while foraging. Males court females with song and show off the white spots on their tails, similar to the behaviour of an American Redstart. To warn a territory intruder, males also spread their tail, flashing their white tail spots. Males and females maintain a shared territory on the breeding grounds, but separate territories on the wintering grounds. During migration, they frequently join foraging flocks of chickadees, and they join mixed-species flocks on the wintering grounds. 

Magnolia Warblers are common, and their populations increased by nearly 1% per year from 1966 to 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates the global breeding population at 39 million and rates them 8 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a species of low conservation concern. Magnolia Warblers, like many songbirds, are often the victim of collisions with tall buildings and TV towers during migration. 

Their average life span is unknown. The oldest recorded magnolia warbler lived for at least 8 years and 11 months. 

The following collage summarizes the week I spent with my friend, #3013, the "Magnolia Warbler".

The Magnolia Warbler was still not finished in that lower right image above ... always a few more strokes of the brush to make it better ... until the next stroke fails to do that. Oh my. Sometimes I need that person with the 2x4 standing behind me at the easel, poised to clunk me over the head. 

Almost done...

At the 2010 BioBlitz, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Cerulean, Chestnut-sided, Nashville, Pine, Yellow and Yellow-rumped Warblers were all spotted, but no Magnolia Warblers. The Magnolia Warblers are here now, though, and we appreciate having them.  

For this and much more art, click on the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you for reading, and stay well!

Nature, art and science continue to make sense... 

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3012 "Golden-winged Warbler Sing-a-long"

 

#3012 "Golden-winged Warbler Sing-a-long"
11 X 14 (inches).
Started at 9:00 am Tuesday, March 24th, 2026

The Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is a small, migratory songbird known for its striking silver-gray body, gold crown, and dramatic black mask. These birds are critically threatened. Thanks again to my friend John Verburg, who provided this striking image of a beautiful little bird. 

Golden-winged Warblers breed in tangled, shrubby habitats such as regenerating clearcuts, wet thickets, tamarack bogs, and aspen or willow stands. They tend to occur in wetland habitats more often than the closely related (and competitive) Blue-winged Warbler. Recent radio-tracking studies have discovered that Golden-winged Warblers move into mature forests immediately after fledging. This means that mosaics of shrubby, open areas (for nesting) and mature forest habitats (which offer cover for fledglings from predators like hawks) are important landscape features. This accurately describes the habitat of the Singleton Sanctuary.

The early 20th century was good to Golden-winged Warblers, as settlers cleared forest openings for settlement and farming. As the century progressed, many of those cleared areas grew back into forests, and humans prevented natural disturbances from opening up new pockets of nesting areas. Since the 1960s, Golden-winged Warbler habitat has decreased by an estimated 22 percent in the Great Lakes region and 43 percent in the northern Appalachians. On their wintering grounds, Golden-winged Warblers live in semiopen woodlands, as well as bird-friendly coffee farms under a forest canopy. 

Food items include caterpillars, moths, spiders and such. Leafroller caterpillars appear to be an important food source. Golden-winged Warblers feed among the foliage by probing with their sharp bills into rolled-up leaves to find hidden prey. They only rarely catch insects on the wing. 

Similar to chickadees, they often forage by hanging upside down from branches and, in the breeding season, are strictly insectivorous, favouring moths and caterpillars. 

The 2025 State of the Birds report lists Golden-winged Warbler as a Yellow Alert Tipping Point species, meaning that it has lost more than 50% of its population in the past 50 years but has relatively stable recent trends. The North American Breeding Bird Survey estimates this species declined by 1.2% per year between 1966 and 2023, resulting in a cumulative decline of 52% over that period. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 390,000 individuals and rates the species 15 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score. 

Golden-winged Warbler's breeding range is now largely split into two distinct regions, with 95% of the population in the Upper Great Lakes (mostly Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Manitoba) and the other 5% in the Appalachians from New York to Georgia. Minnesota now has the highest remaining density of Golden-winged Warblers, with about half the global population. 

Some of the steps in the painting process to try to make the Golden-winged Warbler come alive and sing. 

The Appalachian mountains population has nearly been extirpated (down 98 percent). Wetland habitats seem to be a stronghold for Golden-winged Warblers, but invasive Phragmites is making the birds’ preferred tussock-sedge nesting sites harder to find. The Singleton wetlands are still dominated by cattails with no phragmites. Clearcutting, burning, and grazing can improve habitat for Golden-winged Warblers, although new evidence points to the importance of keeping mature forest nearby, which we enjoy. 

Loss of open forests on the wintering grounds is also a problem, and bird-friendly or shade-grown coffee and cacao plantations can help retain habitat for the species. The Golden-winged Warbler Working Group, a consortium including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and 38 other universities, agencies, and conservation groups, has released a conservation plan to improve the species’ prospects by 2050. Let us hope that they and we might be successful. 

Hopefully, the Golden-winged Warbler will be back in residence this summer! The competitive Blue-winged warbler was not seen during the 2010 Chadwick BiolBlitz, but it is probably alive and well at Singleton. The handsome Blue-throated Warbler (right) was spotted, and someday it may appear on its own canvas. 

Almost done... each painting is a process...

For this and much more art, click on the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3011 "Chestnut-sided Warbler Sing"

#3011 "Chestnut-sided Warbler Sing" 
11 X 14 (inches).
Started at 9:00 am Sunday, March 22nd, 2026

My friend John Verburg. John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer, provided me with an inspiring image of a male Chestnut-sided Warbler in its vibrant breeding plumage. This is the next in the singing bird series. 

In the early 1800s, both John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson saw this bird only once. The Chestnut-sided Warbler is a "success story" in North American birding, having gone from rare in the early 1800s to common today due to increased shrubby, young forest habitats. Humans have destroyed the old-growth forests, and this has produced a habitat that favours the lifestyle of the Chestnut-sided Warbler. The Singleton forests were never cut, but we have built a habitat for all creatures. 

Distinctive Features: It is easily identified by its bright yellow crown (cap), chestnut-red stripes along its white flanks, and a bold black facial pattern. 

Behaviour: The bird is captured singing, a common behaviour during the breeding season from May through summer as they establish territories. 

"Pleased to Meetcha" Song: Males have two distinct song classes: an accented song used to attract females (often interpreted as pleased, pleased, pleased to MEECHA) and an unaccented song used for territorial defence.

Habitat: These warblers thrive in early successional habitats, such as regenerating forests, overgrown pastures, and forest edges. 

Chestnut-sided Warblers flit and hop along slender branches, carefully inspecting the undersides of deciduous leaves. Look for them in saplings and shrubs more often than in tall trees. They often raise the tail and droop their wings as they move through the branches. 

Chestnut-sided Warblers eat mostly insects. They feed mostly in deciduous habitats, where these warblers pick or glean caterpillars and other prey from the undersides of leaves. To find prey, the birds hop quickly from perch to perch to change their perspective. They tend to stay in the foliage rather than near large branches. Seeds and fruit make up a small part of the diet. On the wintering grounds, they eat fruits of tropical plants. 

Chestnut-sided Warblers form monogamous pair bonds. Courtship displays involve males raising and spreading their tail and wings, then vibrating the flight feathers and crown feathers while raising and lowering them. The male guards his mate as she constructs the nest and occasionally follows or chases intruders in the territory. Aggressive encounters between males involve straightening or lowering the tail (which they typically hold upward when foraging) and fluffing out their chestnut flank feathers, as well as calling. 

Nests are fairly low to the ground, in deciduous trees and shrubs of the understory, usually no more than 6 feet high. Some very low nests have been found in blackberry, alder, multiflora rose, and ferns. Most nests are set in the crotch of several small branches. These birds frequently use spiderwebs to weave their nests to branches, adding durability to the structure. Nests average 2.8 inches in diameter and 2.6 inches in height, with the interior cup 2 inches across and 1.5 inches deep.

Every portrait is a challenge. I almost always start with the eyes and the beak. 

I highly recommend Frontenac Bird Studies. Frontenac Bird Studies (FBS) was created by the Migration Research Foundation (MRF) in 2009 with the aim of strengthening the capacity for protection of bird populations and habitats in the Frontenac region through monitoring and research. According to the 2010 BioBlitz conducted at our sanctuary, several significant species use the Singleton Sanctuary. There might be more now, given the extensive efforts undertaken to improve habitats.  

The Chestnut-sided Warbler was counted during that BioBlitz! The other warblers observed were Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Cerulean, Nashville, Pine, Yellow and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

The waterfront still looks like this in 2026. You can imagine why I fell in love at first sight...

My admiration for birds goes back to 1967... comprising about 60 portraits. The above are recent "singing bird" portraits. 

It was still winter outside, so #3011 "Chestnut-sided Warbler Sing" was completed within the Singleton Studio, listening to tunes while the wood stove kept me warm!

Almost done... it was still cold outside. 

For this and much more art, click on the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3010 "Cooper's Hawk Up Close"

#3010 "Cooper's Hawk Up Close"
14 X 11 (inches).
Started at 10:00 am Sunday, March 15th, 2026

It was a wintry day outside with some freezing rain and ice pellets. Thanks to my friend John Verburg, I had something to work on within the Singleton Studio. The sketch took a while as there were a lot of feathers that had to be mostly correct!

This is my second Cooper's Hawk painting. The first was #2840 "Cooper's Glare". That one was an immature bird with a fierce look in its eyes. This adult male has piercing red eyes. Their eyes are so very intense and focused. Eyes are always the challenge. They must be perfect for the bird to live. 

The species was named in 1828 by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in honour of his friend and fellow ornithologist, William Cooper. Other common names for Cooper's hawk include: big blue darter, chicken hawk, flying cross, hen hawk, quail hawk, striker, and swift hawk. This species primarily hunts small-to-medium-sized birds, but will also commonly take small mammals and sometimes reptiles.

Cooper's hawk (Astur cooperii) is a medium-sized hawk and an agile woodland hunter using their short wings and long tail to maneuver through forests at nearly 60 mph. Coopers have a more rounded tail than the squared-off tail of a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Coopers are typically slightly bigger as well.

Dashing through vegetation to catch birds is a dangerous lifestyle. In a study of more than 300 Cooper’s Hawk skeletons, 23 percent showed old, healed-over fractures in the bones of the chest area. But a bird has to eye too! Even if it might kill you. 

A Cooper's Hawk captures a bird with its feet and kills it by repeatedly squeezing. Falcons tend to kill their prey by biting it, but Cooper’s Hawks hold their catch away from the body until it dies. They’ve even been known to drown their prey, holding a bird underwater until it stops moving.

As in many birds of prey, the male is smaller (by a third) than the female. Adult male and female Cooper's Hawks have the same general plumage pattern—bluish-gray backs and barred, reddish-orange underparts. However, they are not identical! Females possess a browner-gray back compared to the male's slate-blue, and often have paler, more orange-yellow eyes. Mature males have deep red eyes. 

Cooper’s Hawk nests are typically 25-50 feet high, often about two-thirds of the way up the tree in a crotch or on a horizontal branch. They commonly produce two to four fledglings.

Life is tricky for male Cooper’s Hawks. The danger is that female Cooper’s Hawks specialize in eating medium-sized birds. Does this mean that sometimes, a male that displeases the female might end up on the menu?  Males tend to be submissive to females and to listen out for reassuring call notes the females make when they’re willing to be approached. Males build the nest, then provide nearly all the food to females and young over the next 90 days before the young fledge.

The oldest recorded Cooper's Hawk was a male and at least 20 years, 4 months old. He was banded in California in 1986 and found in Washington in 2006.

Despite declines due to manmade causes, the bird remains a stable species.

A Cooper's hawk has 1,000 to 3,000 feathers, with the exact number varying by age, season, and size. Specific feather counts include 10 primary flight feathers on each wing, around 15 secondaries, and 12 tail feathers. That is my excuse for getting lost in the chest feathers of this portrait. I tried to remain painterly while being truthful to colour, tone and plummage. The above collage documents the challenges and just some of the steps I took to try to get it right with as large a brush as feasible. 

Almost done...

For this and much more art, click on the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3009 "Spring Song"

#3009 "Spring Song"
11 X 14 (inches).
Started at 9:30 am Friday, March 13th, 2026

This is the next in the singing bird series, thanks to my friend John Verburg. John provides a tremendous source of inspiration that encourages me to paint within the Singleton Studio when conditions outside are not conducive to plein air. The accompanying water vapour image explains why I was painting inside the Studio. The snow and warm conveyor belt was centred over eastern Lake Ontario and Singleton. 

I generally start with the eyes and the beak when attempting to capture the essence of a bird. These first strokes on the singing Red-winged Blackbird made it come alive. It was a very good start, and I was determined not to mess it up. Sometimes in the Studio with an overabundance of time and oils, one can kill the subject with a thousand strokes. I just added a bit of colour to the eye after those first strokes. The beak needed some work. 

The Red-winged Blackbird is one of the most abundant birds across North America. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches that they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. Their early and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring. They typically arrive back at Singleton in the first week of March, but sometimes as early as Valentine's Day. They are polygynous, with males often mating with multiple females.

Their trademark vocalization, a loud conk-la-REE! that culminates in an intimidating trill, is often their first line of defence. Researchers have found that non-singing birds are more likely to have their territory encroached upon by rivals. Males will typically combine the song with a forward lean and tail feathers spread out.

Male Red-winged Blackbirds do everything they can to get noticed, sitting on high perches and belting out their song all day long. Females stay lower, skulking through vegetation for food and quietly weaving together their remarkable nests. In winter Red-winged Blackbirds gather in huge flocks to eat grains with other blackbird species and starlings. They do not spend their winters at Singleton yet but that day is coming with climate change. 

Females arrive up to a month later to assess who's claimed the best habitat. Red-winged Blackbirds are opportunistic foragers with varied diets, but they won't eat just anything. Experiments have shown that, if a companion eats something that makes them sick, the birds avoid that food even without having tasted it themselves.

Apparentrly Red-winged Blackbirds can understand the vocalizations of other birds. When researchers played a warning call used by Yellow Warblers to signal that the parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird was in the area, Red-wings reacted and mounted their own defence. They may even have a nuanced understanding of the other birds' sounds, because Red-wings in the study didn't respond to other, less threatening calls.

The archrival of the Red-winged Blackbird is the Marsh Wren. The wren will puncture Red-wing eggs and kill nestlings. In response, Red-wings of both sexes are proactively aggressive against the wrens, and females will "clump" their nests to cooperatively defend their young from enemy incursions.

Red-winged Blackbirds have long been valued in Indigenous cultures as courageous protectors and signs of an impending, abundant spring. According to some First Nations' stories, the species got its red wings through a heroic deed. Another legend of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes includes a tale in which a spiteful person tries to "burn up the world," but a blackbird shouts to raise the alarm. The evil person responded by lobbing a shell that cuts the bird on its wings, leaving marks of blood that remain recognizable to this day. We need a lot more Red-winged Blackbirds around!

Here are just a few from my "singing bird" collection, based largely on the photography of my friend John Verburg. 

I do not know the exact number, but there must be 75 or more paintings of birds in my portfolio.... and counting... The following is why I devote so much effort to our feathered friends in particular and nature in general. 

Since 1970, North America has lost nearly 3 billion birds, representing a 29% decline in total avian population. This widespread decline affects even common species, with grassland birds dropping by 67% and over 90% of losses originating from families like sparrows and warblers. Major causes include habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change - basically, just humans being humans. 

Just a few more strokes left to do. 

For this and much more art, click on the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick