#2947 "Indigo Bunting Singing A Love Song"

#2947 "Indigo Bunting Singing A Love Song" 
16 X 20 inches by 3/4 profile in depth
stretched canvas on my Dad's frame
Started at 9:00 am, May 22nd, 2025

This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. 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 rough in brush sketch on Day One.
A very good start with the eye.
If you get the iris and pupil right,
then everything else doesn’t matter. 

Indigo buntings are a favourite songbird of the Singleton Sanctuary. The small, brilliant and very colourful bird prefers brushy areas along forest edges. We have a lot of those at Singleton. This little frontlit male indigo was putting everything into his song! The feathers were fluffed out, and the notes filled both the sky and the canvas, spilling beyond the edge of the stretcher frame.

Like most other "blue coloured" birds, including the "bluebird" of happiness, the feathers of indigo buntings are not actually blue. The plumage contains the dull brown-black pigment melanin. A frontlit feather may appear bright blue as the light scatters from the melanin, Rayleigh scattering. A backlit feather with the light coming from behind the feather to your eye reveals the true dark colour of the plume. 

Indigo is described as a "rich, dark blue" colour located between blue and violet on the electromagnetic spectrum. It is typically described as a "purplish blue". In fact, indigo might be the most famous of all natural dyes and is still widely used today. Indigo dye dates back thousands of years to India, the main supplier during the Greco-Roman era. China and Japan have also utilized indigo for centuries. 

The dye is extracted from the leaves of plants in the Indigofera genus, which grow in tropical climates. The leaves are transformed into a blue extract that is sold to dyers. The finished dye is prepared in vats with the addition of an alkali (lye or lime) and a reducing agent like fructose. 

In the mid-17th century, Sir Isaac Newton was busy, among other activities, proving that white light was comprised of a full spectrum of colours. He demonstrated that light could be separated into those colours using a prism. A second prism could then reunite those colours to recreate the white light. 

Polymaths like Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, Newton, Einstein, and many more define society. 

Aside from being one of the greatest scientific minds on par with Einstein, Newton also engaged in alchemy, theological studies, and prophecy. Surprisingly, these activities were not based on scientific reasoning. The prime number "7" is associated with many things considered positive, such as the seven days of the week, seven continents, seven notes on the musical scale and even the seven wonders of the ancient world. Various cultures have long associated seven with aspects of life and the cosmos. 

Similarly, Newton believed "7" was a cosmically significant, even "magic" number. As a result, Newton decided to divide the rainbow into seven colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Newton's sequence can be remembered by the mnemonic "ROYGBIV". Indigo was a popular colour and an extremely valuable commodity in his day. As a result, indigo was the perfect colour candidate if one wanted seven colours of the rainbow. 

Colour specialists want to change the rainbow to only six colours. Six can be considered a "special" number as well, especially in mathematics. Surprisingly, Newton did not select the "6" colour concept. 

• Perfect Number: The sum of its proper divisors (1 + 2 + 3) equals 6. 
• Composite Number: It's divisible by numbers other than 1 and itself. 
• Triangular Number: It's the sum of the first three positive integers (1 + 2 + 3). 
• Pronic Number: It's the product of two consecutive integers (2 * 3). 
• Symmetric Group: The smallest non-abelian group has 6 elements. 

In numerology, 6 is often associated with love, harmony, balance, and nurturing. Also consider the "Six Days of Creation" and the "Six Fundamental Directions". Carried to a triplet, "666" in Christianity is most famously known as the "number of the beast," associated with the Antichrist and a figure of evil in the Book of Revelation. Oh my...

Times change, and maybe "indigo" needs to go. A rainbow would become:

The mnemonic would become "ROYGBP" that just doesn't resonate.

But there is still hope for a seven colour rainbow! Some people think that the colour Newton called “blue” was closer to the modern "aqua" which is a mix between blue and green. As well, Newton's "indigo" was closer to what we currently call blue. The actual colour of the indigo dye cakes was closer to blue than purple. Maybe Newton was correct in dividing the rainbow into seven colours, but he missed on the names. Here is perhaps what names Newton should have used in his seven colour rainbow. 

This Newton approach of seven colours seems to do a better job of describing the full breadth of rainbow hues - just my opinion, of course

To be really precise, the number of colours that can be created by combining the different wavelengths in the visible spectrum is astronomical. There are truly over 16 million different colours that can be perceived by the human eye. How does one invent 16 million different names for each? I have my work cut out for me with every canvas when I attempt to match the colours that inspire me!

Newton, white light, the rainbow and indigo make for an interesting story. Most modern blue dyes are synthetic, so the use of the word "indigo" has fallen by the wayside. I think the word "indigo" is still perfect and simply refers to a colour that people have trouble distinguishing from being either blue or purple.

In attempting to accurately paint Indigo Buntings, I employ most hues of blue in my possession to match what I see and feel. I even used several shades of green and God forbid, "black". 

The Canadian-made Stevenson oils are my favourite, but they closed in 2028.

My goal was to capture what appears to be the elusive true colour of the Indigo Bunting. 

The "cold low omega" block pattern returned, requiring the wood stove for the painting sessions.
I had three palettes on the go to keep my colours really clean.  

I would visit these beautiful little songbirds in #1188 "Indigo" and #2922 "Blue Bunting of Happiness".  There might be more Indigo Bunting paintings to come. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

And that is the story of indigo, not blue and not purple, but something elusive in between. I learned and relearned some interesting things while painting this inspiring little songbird. Life is good. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2946 "No Mow May Dandelions"

#2946 "No Mow May Dandelions" 
14 X 11 inches by 7/8 profile in depth.
Started at 10:00 am Friday, May 16th, 2025

Like "love songs", the world can always use more flowers, especially in spring. Emergent insects and early bird migrants desperately need these nectar and pollen sources. They are the foundation of the web of life. 

Rachel Carson was wise to be alarmed at the synthetic pesticides that were wiping out the foundation of nature.  Toxic chemicals were widely developed through the military funding of science after World War II. Carson's 1962 book "Silent Spring" was deservedly named one of the 25 greatest science books of all time by the editors of Discover magazine in 2006.

As a decade-long beekeeper, I rejoiced in seeing my bees emerge from the colonies having survived winter, eager to harvest those first crops of nectar and pollen. I used to spent some quiet, quality time with my bees, Maine Coon cat and Chesapeake Retriever laying on the grass in front of the cluster of supers watching the comings and goings of my friends. 

"Dances With Bees Chadwick" from a movie with a similar name was used on letters addressed to Watershed Farm. I hope someone laughed... I did!

The fabulous honey they produced was "pure joy" in a bottle. The produce from each frame went straight into mason jars without mixing with other honey or any more human interference. Each jar of honey was unique and different in colour and subtle flavours. Winnie the Pooh would have been thrilled. The honey and propolis crops were so special!

Canada still allows neonicotinoid chemicals that are thought to be less damaging than the organochlorines and organophosphates used in the past. All of them killed my bees as the farms expanded and changed their agricultural methods along the 12th Concession of King Township. It got so that I could not keep my bees alive through the cold season, no matter what I tried. And I just could not continue... Hammertown was becoming "Torontofied" as well. 

Sadly, we moved from Watershed Farm and the Oak Ridges Moraine to something more like Winnie the Pooh's "Hundred Acre Wood" in Eastern Ontario. The bears that share the 145 acres with us encouraged me not to restart my apiary, although I was very tempted. For me, erecting reinforced electric fences to keep the bears out of the honey supers seemed too much like fighting nature and erecting a prison. 

       "Winnie the Pooh" at Singleton with two cubs      

The other temptation is to cut the "weeds" down. "No Mow May" used in the title of this painting, is a campaign encouraging homeowners to refrain from mowing their lawns. The concept originated appropriately in the UK in 2019 I think, at the encouragement of "Winnie the Pooh". The goal is to boost pollinator populations. 

   Two palettes are used to keep my     
colours clean.

We certainly practice"No Mow May" at Singleton. Large sections of flowers are left uncut. In a system of rotation, those sections are only mowed when the flowers fade and die, leaving other blocks uncut. 

Many birds prefer the mowed sections for hunting, especially the bluebirds, robins and flickers. The fields are always alive with natural activity, although I rarely see any honey bees. 

To be clear, "weeds" are simply flowers growing where people have decided they are unwanted. Weeds can be quite beautiful, and I continue to capture them in oils whenever I get the chance. 

Fighting nature is a silly and futile battle. Life is just easier to embrace nature and "let it bee" to quasi-quote Paul McCartney and the Beatles. 

Finally, although the sentiment is wonderful, Einstein did not say "If the Bee Disappeared Off the Face of the Earth, Man Would Only Have Four Years Left To Live". Scholars have traced these thoughts instead to Charles Darwin, Maurice Maeterlinck and E. O. Wilson. The earliest evidence connecting Einstein and disastrous impacts resulting from the disappearance of bees was published in the "Canadian Bee Journal" in 1941. Quote Investigator has the complete story. 

The importance of nature must not be underestimated. Humans are just another species and not the lords of the universe. Humans must consider the others that share the Earth, the only planet we can ever know. The climate of the Earth is entering thousands of years of an interglacial period due to the uncontrolled combustion of fossil fuels that were sequestered during the last 15 million years, only to be re-released in the blink of an eye of the Industrial Age. The Pandora Box of Carbon must be slammed shut, and somehow that released carbon must be put back inside...

These are just my opinions, of course. I use these posts to continue learning and maybe share some positive thoughts.

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2945 "Eastern Meadowlark Sing Loud"

There will be five paintings of the Eastern Meadowlark (so far): #2854 "Eastern Meadowlark"; #2942 "Meadowlark Silent Spring"; #2943 "Happy As A Lark"; #2944 "On Watch Meadowlark"; and #2945 "Eastern Meadowlark Sing Loud".

#2945 "Eastern Meadowlark Sing Loud"
18x14 inches oils on smooth cradled panel
Started May 3rd, 2025 

This Eastern Meadowlark was singing its heart out! I wanted to let those sound waves extend well beyond the panel, loud and clear. I tried to make these birds come alive even as they vanished from the landscape. 

As I have mentioned before, I use these posts not just for art but to learn more about the science. Art and science are compatible. Being an eternal student keeps me informed and life interesting. 

With global warming, you might notice that the weather goes from winter to summer seemingly overnight. Such was the case while I was painting on my Eastern Meadowlark series. There was no need for the Pacific Energy wood stove anymore when I started on #2945. Let me explain. 

A weaker jet stream is a direct result of global warming, in which the poles warm at rates greater than four times that at the equator. The meandering jet loops through the atmosphere, creating patterns resembling ox-bow lakes in the atmospheric ocean. At the start of my meteorological career in 1976, these blocking patterns were rare. Now blocks are a way of life in the weather. 

The following graphics will save a lot of words explaining the common blocking patterns witnessed on current weather maps. 

The jet stream loops between the highs and lows in the atmosphere, which are like gears in the weather machine. The "chain" links all of the cogs of the atmospheric engine so that they work together as a single heat engine that converts the fuel in the atmosphere into wind and weather. 

The flanking low-pressure areas will be cloudy and wet with potential extreme precipitation events depending on the location of the "Amtospheric Rivers". One of my early COMET Modules, "Satellite Feature Identification: Atmospheric Rivers" might be of interest. 

A warmer atmosphere can also hold more moisture - about 7 percent more per 1°C of warming. An increase in atmospheric water vapour, which is also an important greenhouse gas (GHG), has already been witnessed with the observed global warming of 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial revolution temperature averages. 

The increasing heat and moisture in the Earth's environment fuel the more intense weather events that get locked up in these blocking patterns. Weather and climate are changing fast as a result of the ongoing combustion of fossil fuels and other human activities, such as the decimation of the planet's forests. The perceived sixth mass extinction is a direct consequence of human actions. 

The high-pressure portion of an Omega block tracked slowly over Singleton as I painted. With the abrupt change to summer, I could park my very wet panels on my field easel in front of the dormant wood stove. This also had the benefit that the feel of the brush strokes could be kept consistent from panel to panel as the work progressed. There were three masking tape bar codes on my easel above the painting, aligned in order from left to right. 

Two clean palettes still being used to keep my oils clean... #2945 on the easel while #2943 rests.

Singleton is under the golden star over eastern Ontario
in the accompanying graphic. 

Cold and wet weather would return to Singleton in time for the Victorian Day long weekend as the omega block re-established itself over North America. The accompanying weather map from mid-weekend clearly reveals the shape of the block. The details of the chart might be Greek to most, but the meteorology therein was my bread and butter for 35 plus years. 

Living under the preferred location of a cold low will be the best place to find yourself and nature with continued global warming. The hot and dry high is to be avoided. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2944 "On Watch Meadowlark"

There will be five paintings of the Eastern Meadowlark (so far): #2854 "Eastern Meadowlark"; #2942 "Meadowlark Silent Spring"; #2943 "Happy As A Lark"; #2944 "On Watch Meadowlark"; and #2945 "Eastern Meadowlark Sing Loud".

#2944 "On Watch Meadowlark" 
18x14 inches oils on smooth cradled panel
Started May 2nd, 2025

This Eastern Meadowlark was looking intently over its left shoulder. It was not singing. All birds have good reason to be wary of the activities of humans... especially politicians. This post is for those without a voice. 

Bird populations have been decimated in just 50 years. Politicians wish to further weaken or remove the laws designed to protect our feathered friends. Ontario Premier Ford has systematically employed the pandemic, the housing crisis, and now U.S. tariffs to weaken or remove environmental safeguards that protect water, wildlife and human health.  

Doug Ford’s Bill 5 would let insider developers bypass Ontario’s laws, including those designed to protect the environment and public safety. This is not democracy. This policy of greed continues to fuel the 6th Mass Extinction currently raging around the planet. 

Politics has evolved into a lobbyist game for the wealthy. Passionate and honest people wishing to be elected to work for the people's welfare (including the environment) have been replaced by pawns repaying their influential sponsors for getting them a patronage career for life. 

Power does corrupt. Nature and the environment do not have a voice in either politics or the economy, and that is a major flaw that must be corrected. 

Grassland birds in particular are in crisis. As a broad group, birds that live in Canada's grasslands have declined by 67% since 1970. Some, like Chestnut-collared and Thick-billed Longspur, have declined by over 95%. There's no question that these birds are in serious trouble. The biggest threat to Canada's grassland birds is the destruction and degradation of the native grasslands they need. Urgent action to conserve their habitat is needed to save these species. 

In Canada, 36% of songbird species have experienced a population decline since 1970. Specifically, 168 species have seen their populations decrease. 

Ontario's Eastern Meadowlark population has declined by 82% between 1970 and 2025. If I extend these calculations using the observed annual decline rate of 3%, the remaining Eastern Meadowlarks will be reduced to 11% of the 1970 population by 2040. That assumes that the impacts of global warming and human activities remain unchanged. Both of these assumptions are blindly generous given the actions of politicians in the Americas. Ontario’s proposed Bill 5 “would end Endangered Species protection and attack clean energy” effectively overriding local protections in communities across Ontario

At what population density does the species simply disappear? This sad story is reminiscent of the 1955 novel by Fred Bodsworth. "Last of the Curlews". That book remains an important read!

Meadowlark whistles are rare events now, at least for me. My Dad shared some of his wisdom. He once said, "Only worry about yourself" when I was troubled by what I thought was unethical behaviour of those in our community. He was correct, but I still feel compelled to speak for those without a voice, like nature and the environment. The evil actions of corrupt profiteering politicians must be resisted. Deeds speak louder than empty  political slogans.

This is the second of the Eastern Meadowlark series on 18x14-inch cradled smooth panels. 

As I have mentioned before, I use these posts not just for art but to learn more about the science. Art and science are compatible. Being an eternal student keeps life interesting. 

Two clean palettes still being used to keep my oils clean... You might notice two masking tape
bar codes on my easel above the painting. #2943 was very wet, so I selected another smooth panel to work on in front the the cheery wood stove. Singleton was still under the cold low and that's a great place to be with global warming.

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2943 "Happy As A Lark"

Some birds only sing in the early morning and in the evening, but larks sing all day long. Meadowlarks have also been known to sing at night, particularly when the moon is bright. The melody of the Meadowlark is pleasant and cheerful. It would be a tragedy beyond words for this grassland bird to go the way of the Dodo. 

#2943 "Happy As A Lark" 
18x14 inches oils on smooth cradled panel
Started April 27th, 2025

The saying "happy as a lark" means to be extremely happy or cheerful. The origin of the phrase is believed to be tied to the behaviour of larks, which are birds known for their joyful singing and lively flight patterns, especially during the early morning hours. The phrase became popular with the earliest recorded use attributed to the poet Robert Burns in the late 1700s. He penned about the happiness associated with the lark, contributing to the phrase's association with joy and contentment. Being as happy as a lark" is a life of carefree happiness. That is the healthy way to live. It is exactly the feeling that John Verburg captured in his photo, and I wished to convey in oils. I wanted the happy song of the Meadowlark to burst off the smooth panel. 

This is the first painting of an Eastern Meadowlark focusing on their bright yellow throat and belly, a black "V" on its breast and white flanks with black streaks. My goal was to record a beautiful bird blissfully joyful in its natural environment. 

This is the first of the Eastern Meadowlark series on 18x14-inch cradled smooth panels. The surface brings back memories of my Dad and the wooden post, which was the main support for our back porch at 24 East Avenue in Brockville. That post was turned into stretcher bars when it could no longer reliably support the deck. 

There will be five paintings of the Eastern Meadowlark (so far): #2854 "Eastern Meadowlark"; #2942 "Meadowlark Silent Spring"; #2943 "Happy As A Lark"; #2944 "On Watch Meadowlark"; and #2945 "Eastern Meadowlark Sing Loud".

I was thinking of Rachel Carson's 1962 book while I painted. We had not seen an Eastern Meadowlark within the Singleton Sanctuary for several years. Carson's book "Silent Spring" was deservedly named one of the 25 greatest science books of all time by the editors of Discover magazine in 2006. See #2942 "Meadowlark Silent Spring" for more details of that part of the story.

In Ontario, Eastern Meadowlark populations have shown a long-term decline of 2.4% per year from 1966 to 2009. Over the most recent 10-year period, Ontario's Eastern Meadowlark population has declined by a higher average annual rate of 2.9%. The Breeding Bird Survey shows a statistically significant decline of 3.1% per year in Canada between 1970 and 2009, corresponding to a 71% overall decline. My math estimates that the 2025 meadowlark population would be only 18% of the 1970 level…. An overall drop of 82%. Shame!  Loss of breeding habitat, changes in hayfield management, and poor reproductive output are factors contributing to the decline - largely human influences.

Meadowlark whistles are rare events now, at least for me. The birds like to sing from fenceposts and telephone lines or stalk through the grasses, probing the ground for insects with their long, sharp bills. On the ground, their brown-and-black dappled upperparts camouflage the birds among dirt clods and dry grasses. But upon perches, they reveal bright-yellow underparts and a striking black chevron across the chest. 

As I have mentioned before, I use these posts not just for art but to learn more about the science. Art and science are compatible. Being an eternal student keeps life interesting. 

Two clean palettes are being used to keep my oils clean... it was still like winter outside under the blocking cold low weather pattern. The wood fire felt delicious. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2942 "Meadowlark Silent Spring"

#2942 "Meadowlark Silent Spring" 
20x16 inches oils on stretched canvas.
Started April 20th, 2025

I paint as a "lark", but the background story is always important. Art and science can be the same. The word, as slang, means "a merry, carefree adventure; frolic; escapade; innocent or good-natured mischief; a prank". The slang adequately describes the free and easy approach to my artistic adventure. I am not caught up in the gallery game or the race for renown. My journey in art has concentrated on creativity and telling stories through the brush strokes. Learning more. This particular artistic step is also about the bird. 

I was thinking of Rachel Carson's 1962 book while I painted. We had not seen an Eastern Meadowlark within the Singleton Sanctuary for several years. Carson's book "Silent Spring" was deservedly named one of the 25 greatest science books of all time by the editors of Discover magazine in 2006. 

In the mid-1940s, Carson became concerned about the use of synthetic pesticides, many of which had been developed through the military funding of science after World War II. The United States Department of Agriculture's 1957 fire ant eradication program involved aerial spraying of DDT and other pesticides mixed with fuel oil. This lethal mix of toxins was even sprayed on private land. Carson decided to devote her research and her next book to pesticides and environmental poisons. Landowners on Long Island filed a suit to have the spraying stopped. Amazingly, they lost the suit, but the Supreme Court granted petitioners the right to gain injunctions against potential environmental damage in the future. It is always just about money... shame. 

In Ontario, Eastern Meadowlark populations have shown a long-term decline of 2.4% per year from 1966 to 2009. Over the most recent 10-year period, Ontario's Eastern Meadowlark population has declined by a higher average annual rate of 2.9%. The Breeding Bird Survey shows a statistically significant decline of 3.1% per year in Canada between 1970 and 2009, corresponding to a 71% overall decline. Loss of breeding habitat, changes in hayfield management, and poor reproductive output are factors contributing to the decline - largely human influences.

Meadowlark whistles are rare events now, at least for me. The birds like to sing from fenceposts and telephone lines or stalk through the grasses, probing the ground for insects with their long, sharp bills. On the ground, their brown-and-black dappled upperparts camouflage the birds among dirt clods and dry grasses. But upon perches, they reveal bright-yellow underparts and a striking black chevron across the chest. 

• The Eastern Meadowlark is not in the lark family (Alaudidae)—it’s a member of the blackbird family (Icteridae), which also includes cowbirds and orioles.
• A male Eastern Meadowlark typically has two mates at a time, rarely three.
• Taxonomists recognize up to 15 subspecies of Eastern Meadowlark.
• Although Eastern and Western Meadowlarks are nearly identical, the two species hybridize only very rarely. Mixed pairs usually occur only at the edge of the range where few mates are available.
• Where Eastern and Western Meadowlark ranges overlap in the central U.S., the two species refuse to share territories. Their songs sound totally different to each other, like a foreign language, so singing doesn’t always do the job of communicating territorial boundaries. Instead, the two species are likely to fight for territorial supremacy.
• An Eastern Meadowlark male can sing several different variations of its song. In New York, the songs from one male were analyzed using spectrograms; the bird sang more than 100 different patterns of song.
• The oldest known wild Eastern Meadowlark was at least 8 years, 8 months old. It was banded in Pennsylvania in 1926, and shot in North Carolina in 1935.

I had to rely on another image taken by my friend John Verburg. John was "not sure where the term 'Happy as a Lark' originated, but after watching this fellow for a while, I would say it is fitting! Eastern Meadowlarks are considered a threatened species, but efforts to protect their habitat seem to be working since they appear to be more abundant again in recent years. Males and females look the same."

I hope that John is correct that the Meadowlark population is recovering. The twisted bit of metal plumbing strapping that was tacked to the top of the fence post was included in the oils to indicate the influence of humans. Note the prevalence of large red dots in the following graphic. A similar motif was used in my painting. 

The background was intended to be dynamic with the notes from the meadowlark song swirling around in four dimensions. Plus, it was fun. 

There are a few "blue dots" north of Kingston where the Eastern Meadowlark numbers might be increasing since 2012, as John Verburg also observes. We can make a difference, but there must also be political will to let it happen. 

As I have mentioned before, I use these posts not just for art but to learn more about the science. Art and science are compatible. Being an eternal student keeps life interesting. 

Eastern Meadowlark populations have suffered a 71% overall decline between 1970 and 2009. At 3% per year and another 16 years between 2009 and 2025, the eastern meadowlark population could be diminished by 82% of the 1970 level. 

There will be five paintings of the Eastern Meadowlark (so far): #2854 "Eastern Meadowlark"; #2942 "Meadowlark Silent Spring"; #2943 "Happy As A Lark"; #2944 "On Watch Meadowlark"; and #2945 "Eastern Meadowlark Sing Loud".

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2941 "Northern Shrike Thicket"

#2941 "Northern Shrike Thicket" 
16x20 inches oils on stretched canvas
Started April 16th, 2025

This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. John provides a tremendous source of inspiration during the winter when the wind chill encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio. This thicket reminded me of the one occupied by the brilliant male cardinal in #2925 "Winter Male Cardinal in the Forest". 

This is the second painting of the striking songbird, the first being #2842 "Northern Shrike". Shrikes are sometimes easy to identify even from a distance as they perch at the very top of an isolated tree in a field setting, scouting for a meal. 

Loggerhead Shrikes have a thicker black mask than Northern Shrikes that often extends over the eye and above the bill. They have cleaner white underparts without the fine barring of Northern Shrikes. 

The burly, bull-headed Northern Shrike is a pint-sized predator of birds, small mammals, and insects. A bold black "Zoro" mask and stout, hooked bill heighten the impression of danger in these fierce predators. They breed in far northern North America and come as far south as the northern U.S. for winter. They hunt in brushy, semiopen habitats, chasing after birds, creeping through dense brush to ambush prey, or pouncing on mice. They often save food for later by impaling it on thorns or barbed wire.

Shrikes are rare among songbirds because of their lifestyle of hunting and eating animals. They often kill more prey than they need at one time, but they don't let it go to waste. They often store food for later by impaling their prey on spines or barbed wire, earning the nickname "butcher birds."

• Shrikes have a toothlike spike on either side of the upper bill and a corresponding notch on either side of the lower mandible. Known as a "tomial tooth," this feature allows them to kill prey with a quick bite to the neck.
• Northern Shrikes are stealthy hunters. They skulk through dense brush, patiently watch mouse holes and pathways, and monitor nests of other birds carefully to determine the best time to raid them.
• The nest of the Northern Shrike is an open cup, but it is so deep that while incubating, the female is completely out of view except for the tip of her tail.
• Both male and female Northern Shrikes sing throughout the year. The male sings especially in late winter and early spring. Their songs sometimes include imitations of other species.

There was an Environment Canada pamphlet produced during the era of cuts and program reviews in the 1990s. A Northern Shrike was featured prominently on the cover. The draconian directors and managers probably never realized that the "butcher bird" was certainly the artist's editorial comment on what was transpiring within the public service. My science profession and those of many others were on the cutting block at least three times. The 1990s were a time of cuts at all levels of science. Just when the efforts to address global warming and unsustainable extraction should have been escalating. The brief window of opportunity for meaningful steps was still open, but the cuts to science were brutal. The superficial and ineffective actions applied to reduce fossil fuels did not match the heroic, political rhetoric.

The Harper War on science and knowledge was especially brutal. A March 19, 2014 article bannered as "Echoes of Walkerton in Environment Canada cuts" follows with "Health and safety of Canadians is at risk with latest slashing of Environment Canada budget." An interesting quote from that article follows. 

"Albert Einstein's well-known definition of insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" is unsettlingly relevant to a new round of federal government cuts. The latest slashing of Environment Canada, which by 2016 will have half the budget it had in 2007, calls to mind a series of deep cuts to environmental protections in Ontario in the late 1990s. Some of the players are even the same, so they cannot reasonably claim to be ignorant of the tragic consequences. Both at the provincial and federal levels. Not much has changed."

See https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/echoes-of-walkerton-in-environment-canada-cuts/article_cfe9d42a-3330-5af7-b95e-fddd03092f16.html for the full article.

The cost of these actions is becoming painfully clear in both the climate and the weather, not to mention the Sixth Mass Extinction. Shame...

According to the Christmas Bird Count, Northern Shrike populations have generally declined, particularly since the early 1970s. While some Northern Shrikes remain year-round on their breeding grounds, most migrate to southern Canada and the United States for the winter. Data suggests an almost 30% decrease in the population since the early 1970s. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick