#2851 "Water Stalker"

#2851 "Water Stalker"
20x16 inches oils on canvas
Started April 10th, 2024

A very large great blue heron was on the rocky shore of Jim Day Rapids when Linda and I visited the Singleton Sanctuary for the very first time. We would purchase the land a few weeks later. It was a dream come true. That great blue heron and its descendants would always be safe within the Sanctuary. The pictures below show how the land looked in 2006 and it still looks the very same except for the inclusion of our home. 

The upper right shows Linda with Real Estate Bill looking at maps. I fell in love again while Linda tells Bill "this is it..." Linda could read my body language from 100 yards. Although I was born and raised in the area, it was like John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" where he sings about "coming home to a place he'd never been before". It was a special moment and we now live that every day. 

The Great Blue Heron is the largest heron in Canada. Adults stand over 3 feet high with their necks outstretched. The long limbs dictate the heron's movements: it flies with deep, slow wing beats, and on land, or in the water, it walks erect with long strides. In flight, the neck is doubled back, the head resting against the shoulders, and the long legs held straight behind (see below). 

This colonial-nesting waterbird is characterized by its long neck, long legs and short tail, and a greyish-blue upper body with black and white markings on its crown and underparts. The most obvious difference between a male and female great blue heron is size. Male herons are visibly larger than their female counterparts, typically weighing between 6 and 8 pounds. A female usually weighs between 4 1/2 and 6 pounds. The male heron's bill is longer than the female's bill. These differences are most visible when a mating pair sits side by side. The ornamental plumage in males has been found to be longer on average as well, but these differences can be hard to discern. Young herons tend to have much darker feathers on their face, neck and crown. I am guessing that this is a young male great blue heron but not really certain. 

The males and females play different and distinctive roles in the heron mating ritual. Herons form mating colonies in May and June. Within a colony, herons break off into breeding pairs that remain together and monogamous during the breeding season. Males in the colony perform for the females, flying large circles over the nesting ground, calling loudly, and fighting with other males who challenge their courtship for the female of their choice. Females tend to remain in a single location during the mating ritual, calling the males to her with her song and waiting for the right partner to come to her. They share the responsibility of rearing young. 

Great Blue Herons have specialized feathers on their chest that continually grow and fray. The herons comb this "powder down" with a fringed claw on their middle toes, using the down like a washcloth to remove fish slime and other oils from their feathers as they preen. 

The great blue heron's stilt-like legs are essential for foraging in shallow waters where the birds feed on fish and frogs. On land, being a generalist and opportunistic species, great blue herons may hunt for salamanders, smaller birds, reptiles, other small mammals and large insects. 

Other fun facts: 

• The scientific name is Ardea herodias. 
• There are five subspecies of great blue heron. 
• They breed in colonies called heronries. 
• The young birds are fed by both their parents via regurgitation. 
• They typically lay 3-5 eggs. 
• Their nests are sometimes more than 100 feet up in a tree. 

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 windchill encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio. The title is a bit of a play on words. "Water Walker" was a phrase used by the canoeist Bill Mason which was possibly a spoof of the popular movies based on "Luke Sky Walker". I frequently contemplate the phrase "water walker" when I paddle. The great blue heron is famous for stalking the shallows for tasty meals... 

I use these art posts to also relearn or discover for the first time, some natural history facts about the world around us. It is more of a challenge to assist and preserve something that one does not understand or appreciate. Thank you for reading this far...  Education is a way of life and may it never get old.

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 

#2850 "Mrs Blue Bird"

#2850 "Missus Blue Bird"
14 (height) X 18 (width) inches oils on canvas
Started April 3rd, 2024

I have constructed several hundred Peterson Blue Bird houses in my time. There were always construction scraps to turn into something useful. Waste not and want not. The northwest corner of King Township and the Greenbelt has most of those boxes but there are still a hundred within the Singleton Sanctuary. 

All varieties of birds enjoy the Peterson Blue Birdhouse design. When my workshop was functional with lots of house construction scraps to work with, there would be twenty or more Peterson boxes in construction. There were jigs set up to make every cut perfect. The reward was to see several broods emerge from each Peterson Blue Birdhouse every summer. With climate change, the bluebirds are now year-round residents at Singleton Lake. They seem to survive on the cones of red cedars. Bluebirds have been known to live for a decade so the birds that inhabit the sanctuary know us well. 

Female birds are less brightly coloured than males. The colour patterns are similar and there is no noticeable difference in size. 

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 windchill encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio. While in the comforts of the Studio, there is the freedom to paint as long as you wish on a painting. The temptation is to make the work "perfect". The goal although admirable is misguided as too many brush strokes can steal the life out of the subject. I try to make the portrait painterly and breathing like a live subject. 

It is a challenge to keep up with the changing climate. Nature adapts much faster than the maps. The purple year-round shading of the above graphic needs to be adjusted further north to include the areas northeast of Lake Ontario and Singleton Lake. 

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 

#2849 "Wood Ducks Standing on the Log By the Bay"

#2849 "Wood Ducks Standing on the Log By the Bay"
14x18 inches oils on stretched canvas 
Started Friday March 29th, 2024 

The title of this painting was inspired by the song with a similar name. "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. Redding recorded it twice in 1967, including just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. The song is still popular on the oldies station. 

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 windchill encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio.

These are a Drake (left) and a hen (right) juvenile wood ducks in September of 2024. They had been busy preening their feathers and discarding fluffy castaways on the log. 

Map of the location of wood duck houses within the Singleton Sanctuary

We have about twenty wood duck boxes within the Singleton Sanctuary and they are heavily used. Like the Peterson Blue Bird Houses and other structures, we have provided, "build it and they will come". We enjoy seeing lots of wood ducks within the Singleton Sanctuary. They arrive in early March and stay into October. 

Drake wood ducks have red eyes without an eye ring.  Hen wood ducks have dark eyes and a tear-drop-shaped white eye ring. The drake's bill is red, with a yellow band at the base and a black line above the nostrils to the tip. Legs and feet are dark yellow. The hen is mostly brownish-olive overall, with white streaks on the breast. 

Note that both loon genders have red eyes possibly to aid in underwater vision. The male loons are 25 percent larger than the female but otherwise, they are identical. 

Wood Ducks are built to navigate the tight quarters of their preferred swampy habitat: A long, wide tail and powerful, broad wings allow them to nimbly fly through trees and branches. Their relatively large eyes absorb more light which is very useful for seeing under shaded conditions of dense forests. Female wood ducks make loud "oo-eek, oo-eek" when disturbed and taking flight. The Drakes have thin, rising and falling whistles. 

The Wood Duck is a secretive cavity-nesting species commonly found in swamps, marshes, and riparian habitats in Canada. In Canada, it breeds primarily in the eastern provinces. Wood Ducks were nearly hunted to extinction during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Management efforts have been successful and there are now well over a million Wood Ducks in North America. I wish there were many more than that!

Nearly 90 percent of wood ducklings die within the first two weeks, mostly due to predation. The female protects her young until they can fly, about 60 days after hatching. Wood ducks usually live 3 to 4 years but can live as long as 15 years. We often see wood duck broods with more than eight ducklings even late in the summer. Perhaps the predation of young wood ducks is not quite so high within the Singleton Sanctuary. 

The Wood Duck is a distinctively North American species. Its only close relative is the Mandarin Duck of eastern Asia. Evidently the Wood Duck originated in North America, as fossil remains have been found only in widely scattered locations in the eastern part of the continent. 

I use these art posts to also relearn or discover for the first time, some natural history facts about the world around us. It is more of a challenge to assist and preserve something that one does not understand or appreciate. Thank you for reading this far...  Education is a way of life and may it never get old.

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 

#2848 "Singleton Bald Eagles"

#2848 "Singleton Bald Eagles"
20x16 inches oils on stretch canvas
Started Monday March 25st, 2024

It is a challenge to put a smile on the feathered face of a bald eagle. Eagles are excellent and caring parents and mate for life. The pair soar to high altitudes, lock talons and tumble in gymnastic cartwheels toward the earth. Only a really able and fit spouse will do. It is a wild world out there. 

Right to the brush with thin oils

This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. John provides tremendous inspiration during the winter when the weather encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio. The male eagle perched on the barren limb was gazing down at his mate. The image inspired me when I first saw it a now I have it in oils. 

Bald eagles are only found in North America. Eagles live for an average of 25 to 40 years and sometimes even significantly longer. 

Bald eagles have the largest bird nests. The spouses construct the nest together. They will renovate it each year if they like the nest and location. These home improvements help to forge their lifelong bond. Sometimes, they'll add up to 2 ft of addition in the spring. As a result, the nest can get really large until the tree can no longer support it. 

Visually, the bald eagles look identical with the same colouration, but as with most raptors, the female is larger in both size and weight. Females can weigh 25% more than their male mates. Sometimes this is clearly visible in a pair when you see both together at the nest, but otherwise, identifying the sex of an eagle is just a guess. Bald eagles are sexually mature after four or five years by which time they have white plumage throughout their brown wings, bellies, and even leg feathers. 

Eagles enjoy a wide-angle field of vision with perfect focus - authentic "eagle eye" vision. They also see ultraviolet light.

An eagle soars with their wings flat. If the wings of the bird riding the atmospheric thermals are shaped in a "V", it is almost certainly a vulture. 

Historically eagles were relatively common in southern Ontario, especially along the shore of Lake Erie. The lower Great Lake population was all but wiped out in the 1960s. Common enemies of Bald Eagles include humans, Great Horned Owls, other eagles and raptors, and raccoons and crows that will feed on Bald Eagle young and eggs. Sadly there were less than 10 breeding pairs in Ontario in 1970 and the Bald Eagle was declared a provincially Endangered Species in 1973.

Thankfully, the eagle has since recovered from the poisons and persecutions. The bald eagle has been removed from the list of endangered species in Ontario and today the population is estimated at 1400 pairs. In Ontario, they nest throughout the north, with the highest density in the northwest near Lake of the Woods. A pair of bald eagles returned to Singleton Lake at about the same time as we did in 2006. These birds are year-round residents and we see the family group every day. Sometimes there are six eagles together along the shoreline or soaring above the lake. 

Many eagles still migrate to the southern climates during the winter for easier access to food, especially fish - but not the Singleton eagles. These eagles prefer to stay at Singleton during the winter just like us. They spend a lot of time on the ice edge waiting to snatch fish scraps from the otters. Otters can be messy eaters and the eagles seem to fare well on those hors d'oeuvres and whatever else they can scavenge. 

Bald eagles often symbolize growth, rebirth, and transformation—seeing one after someone has passed could represent the soul's journey from the physical realm to the spiritual. These special birds and all of nature, in fact, deserve our respect and assistance to ensure that they survive for countless more centuries. 

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 

#2847 "Bobolink"

#2847 "Bobolink"
18 (height) X 14 (width) inches.
Started Thursday, March 21st, 2024 in the Singleton Studio 

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 weather encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio. 

These are intended to be loose but recognizable portraits with some life in the brush strokes and oils. They are not meant to be biological Audubon records of a particular species. Miraculously on this bobolink, I got the eye right on the first pass and decided to leave that portion of the painting untouched thereafter. 

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) of the Passeriformes order and Icteridae family is one of my very favourite birds. We refer to it as the upside-down bird as the breeding male is light-coloured on top and dark underneath. This colour arrangement is in sharp contrast to most other creatures - birds and fishes included. Some people have described this look as wearing a tuxedo backwards. 

Historically, Bobolinks lived in North American tallgrass prairie and other open meadows. With the clearing of native prairies, Bobolinks moved to live in hayfields. Bobolinks often build their small nests on the ground in dense grasses. Both parents usually tend to their young, sometimes with a third Bobolink helping. Bobolinks spend much of their time out of sight on the ground feeding on insects and seeds. 

The breeding male Bobolinks are striking whether perched on a grass stem or displayed in flight over a field. No other North American bird has a white back and black underparts. The male's rich, lemon-coloured patch on the head and his bubbling, virtuosic song make the Bobolink a pleasure to have a round. As summer ends the male molts into a buff and brown female-like plumage. Bobolink numbers are declining and I often do not see any at all in a particular year. 

Bobolink populations have declined considerably over the past half-century. As a wide-ranging species that migrates in and out of Ontario, there are likely several causes for this decline. 

• Habitat loss and degradation are considered the greatest threats to Bobolink populations.
• Along their migration route and in their wintering areas in South America, they are considered a pest of grain crops.
• Mowing of hay during the breeding period may inadvertently kill and disturb nesting adults and young birds and destroy eggs and nests.
• Cutting hay in early to mid-July coincides with the time that young birds are in the nest and are not able to fly.

The quality of Bobolink nesting habitat has likely declined over time due to modern hay production practices such as earlier maturing seed mixtures and shorter crop rotation cycles.  "Threatened" means the species lives in the wild in Ontario and is not endangered, but is likely to become endangered if steps are not taken to address factors threatening it. 

These special birds and all of nature in fact, deserve our respect and assistance to ensure that they survive for countless more centuries. 

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 

#2846 "Short-eared Owl"

#2846 "Short-eared Owl" 
20x16 inches oils on stretched canvas
Started March 6th, 2024

My friend John Verburg took about 300 pictures of a group of twenty short-eared owls in an initial encounter that lasted only twenty minutes. A "no trespassing" sign kept him from following the owls until a retired ferryboat captain came along with a key and invited John to come in and continue his adventure. The short-eared owl is uncommon to rare. 

At the Studio Easel while wet weather prevailed outside. The Pacific Energy Wood Stove is very efficient and adds a beautiful, cozy feeling to the room. It is a vast improvement over my original Studio in the cramped. space under the basement stairs. I charge in and start with the brush 
trying to remain painterly and loose.

I wanted the eyes of the short-eared owl to lock onto those of the viewer. The soul of all creatures can be found in the eyes and they must be perfect. 

Other common names for the short-eared owl are grass owl, marsh owl, and prairie owl, all descriptive of the open country the species selects, and habitat that includes low shrublands. "Shorties," as the English like to call them, live on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. 

Short-eared Owls are thought to be vulnerable to the effects of various threats in breeding and wintering areas as well as along their migration routes. The likely threats to the species in Ontario include: 

• habitat shifting and alteration, 
• loss of nesting and wintering habitat to urban expansion, 
• pesticides
• increased nest depredation (as a result of habitat fragmentation),
• declines in prey abundance as a result of habitat changes, and
• collisions with vehicles, utility lines, and barbed wire fences as well as wind energy arrays. 

The Short-eared Owl,  Scientific name Asio flammeus has a status of "Special Concern". The owl has suffered a continuing population decline over the past 40 years, including a loss of 23% in the last decade alone. Tragically, this species nearly meets the criteria for Threatened status. 

The estimated global population is about 2,000,000, with 700,000 in North America and 350,000 in Canada. Christmas Bird Count data suggest that Short-eared Owls have declined at a rate of about 3% annually over the last 40 years. 

These special birds and all of nature in fact, deserve our respect and assistance to ensure that they survive for countless more centuries. 

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 

#2845 "Female Snowy Owl"

#2845 "Female Snowy Owl"
18x14 oils on stretched canvas
Started Saturday, February 17th, 2024

This female snowy owl had a whimsical, perhaps questioning expression on her feathered face. I was happy when that emotion also came through in the brush strokes. The owl would have been regarding the man with the camera in front of her and wondering what the fuss might be about. Female snowy owls might not be as showy as the almost virgin white males, but they are stunningly beautiful. That man in front of her would have been my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. John provides a tremendous source of inspiration during the winter when the windchill encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio. John is also very respectful of nature and uses long lenses to give nature the space that it deserves. 

Snowy owls nest all across the Arctic tundra of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Russia. One careful estimate put their total world population at only about 300,000. However, their numbers undoubtedly vary from year to year, rising and falling with changes in food supply and other factors. They probably have declined overall in the last century. 

They're native to Arctic tundra, north of treeline, so for most of the year they wouldn't even see a tree. When some of them come farther south, they seek out areas that look similar to their Arctic territory: prairies, wide-open fields and beaches.

Within a few hours after hatching, the young nestlings are covered with fluffy white down which is replaced by darker gray down within a few days. Their first set of feathers, which takes a while to grow in, is basically white, but with a variable amount of black spotting and barring.

The number of eggs that the females lay will change from year to year, depending on how much food is available. When food is scarce, they may lay only three to five eggs and sometimes none at all. When food is abundant, as in a year when lemmings are in peak numbers, they may lay seven or even more eggs. This is part of the reason why their numbers can increase so rapidly in a good season.

Since most of their breeding range is above the Arctic Circle, snowy owls are in a regime of continuous daylight in summer. Snowy owls are thus used to hunting during the continuous light of summer or the dark of winter. Wintering Snowy Owls will often sit in one spot for most of the day, starting to become active near dusk, and doing much of their hunting at dusk or just after dark.

Most owls live in the forest and are active at night, so communicating by voice is a very important part of their behaviour. Since snowy owls live in open country, and they're active in daylight during the breeding season, they have less need for far-carrying sounds. Still, they do make hoarse hooting sounds as part of their territorial defence. They also make a variety of other sounds during interactions with their own kind, including shrieks, cackling barks, mewing cries, and snapping their bills shut loudly. Lone snowy owls on the wintering grounds are often silent.

Snowy owls are protected so it is best to give them their space. 

The image is displayed on an old, large screen beside the studio easel built by my Dad. I go right to the brush. I typically start with the eyes which have to be perfect. If the eyes are not right, it would be best to stop before you go any further. The painting stays on the easel until I am satisfied... it can take a while! I am in no rush. 

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 

2844 "Red-tailed Hawk"

#2844 "Red-tailed Hawk"
18x14 oils on stretched canvas
Started February 17th, 2024

Red-tailed Hawks are the most common hawks in Ontario. Red-tailed Hawks are opportunistic carnivores. 

The primary part of their diet is small mammals such as mice, moles, rats, squirrels, and rabbits. They favour hunting from a tall perch. The Red-tailed Hawk is not a species at risk in Ontario however they still face a range of mortal threats. 

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 windchill encourages me to stay within the Singleton Studio.

The image is displayed on an old, large screen beside the studio easel built by my Dad and I go right to the brush. The painting stays on the easel until I am satisfied... it can take a while!

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 

#2843 "March Bluebird"

#2843 "March Bluebird"
14x18 inches oils on stretched canvas

With climate change, the bluebirds are now year-round residents at Singleton Lake in eastern Ontario. They seem to survive on the small cones of red cedars. Bluebirds can be attracted to platform feeders, filled with grubs of the darkling beetle. These beetles are mainly sold online as mealworms. Bluebirds will also eat raisins soaked in water. Some people even use backyard heated birdbaths that winter bluebirds apparently enjoy.

We do not engage in any of these unnatural encouragements to try to persuade the birds to stay year-round. There are no mealworms or warm baths at Singleton. Severe winter storms are even more likely in the cold trough that will dominate eastern Canada for the next couple of decades. After that, the entire planet will be too warm for snow. Winter storms would probably result in many casualties within the bird population that refuses to migrate as they have for thousands of centuries. Bluebirds have been known to live for a decade so the birds that inhabit the Singleton Sanctuary know us well. I would never wish to encourage their premature demise even though I love to see and hear them...

The first-day painting at the Studio easel. Right to the brush... starting with tones.

This male bluebird had already claimed one of the most favourable Peterson Blue Bird Houses within the Singleton Sanctuary. I could see his breath condense into ice crystals as he sang. I included those wisps of song in the condensed vapours that I painted. 

It was a chilly March morning in 2021. Hoar frost covered the branches of the shagbark hickory. The frost forms first and thickest on the smaller branches. Those twigs have less heat capacity and cool to freezing faster than the larger branches. The layer of frost on the larger limbs was thin in comparison. 

Male Bluebird March 2021 

Hoar frost typically forms on calm, cool and clear nights when the air mass is moist with water vapour. The word 'hoar' comes from the old English "showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair". Apparently, the feathery ice crystals resemble the white hair or the beard of someone old. I have enjoyed white hair from my thirties so white is not necessarily old. Water vapour sublimates from gas to solid ice crystals on the twigs of the hickory. The size of the frost that forms depends on how much water vapour is available to 'feed' the ice crystals as they grow. Vapour pressure over ice has a maximum near minus 12 Celsius and I expect that was the temperature when the bluebird was singing about how happy he was to be home in the Singleton Sanctuary. 

I possess Artistic License Number 000516 and I admit to enhancing the amount of hoar frost on those shagbark hickory branches. I probably should invoke that license more than I do. However, I prefer to record what I see while keeping the brush strokes painterly in nature. As a meteorologist, I focussed on the facts since people tend to prefer realism as opposed to abstraction in their weather forecasts. Some of that tendency has bridged over into my art. Maybe I should let my hair down more!

By the way, climate change and its impacts is not a question of belief. The science has been well-known since the 1800s. The impacts have been well predicted. The tipping points can be observed. Please read John Vaillant's fine book "Fire Weather" is a textbook on the science and sociological aspects of climate change disguised as an action tale about the Fort McMurray wildfire. Be informed.

The response of Canadian politicians of all flavours to the obvious impacts of climate change was to remove the scientists and dumpster their research… forbidding them to use those words in any sentence. Deny the science, destroy the evidence and get rid of the messengers. Shame.

Nature and art still make sense though. 

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