• Nancy Overton: Bird Artist

    Editor’s Note: Nancy Overton is one of many talented artists whose work is featured in Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s first-ever online bird art auction, which runs from May 17 through June 1, 2020. We hope you will support Nancy, all of our artists, and GGBA by purchasing their beautiful work.

    By Nancy Overton

     

    Though I graduated with a fine arts degree in painting, my art life turned three-dimensional in 2008 shortly after I joined the Backyard Bird Count, co-sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon. Counting birds involved knowing whom you were counting, so I bought myself The Sibley Guide to Birds. Suddenly my feeders were not just full of birds, but full of Dark-eyed Juncos and Chestnut-backed Chickadees and House Sparrows.

    I made a little wire bird and decorated him with some of the papers I used in my collages. He felt at home on the drawing board and in the house. He inspired me to make more birds—learning species, and investigating sizes and shapes and colors.

    White-crowned Sparrow, one of three works by Nancy Overton in the auction

     

    For over ten years now I have been a maker of paper maché birds, creating three-dimensional likenesses of a little bit of life and nature that can live indoors on a shelf or desk.

    I “weave” my bird armatures of floral wire using my fingers and needle-nose pliers. I cover the armature first with newspaper, then with colored papers, sheet music, and other ephemera to create the feathers. Depending on the size and complexity, it will take four to fifteen hours to complete a bird.

    I’m indebted to those nature photographers who post their photographs on the web. My field research is mostly vicarious. I have not trudged miles and my feet are dry. “Images,” I type into the search engine, “back view of horned owl.”

    Black-crowned Night-Heron, one of three works by Nancy Overton in the auction

    My favorite bird is often the commissioned bird that I am not yet acquainted with. Such a request requires research about habits and habitats, feather colors, height, and wingspan. It is a new adventure.

    Though I have made some 25 species of mostly local birds and probably 500+ models of those species, I never tire of making birds. In crafting a bird, I hope I can inspire a smile, inspire an awareness, a thought about the importance of a bird in the natural world.…

  • David Tomb: Bird Artist

    Editor’s Note: David Tomb is one of many talented artists whose work is featured in GGBA’s first ever online bird art auction, which runs from May 17 through June 1, 2020. We hope you will support David, all of our artists and GGBA, by purchasing their beautiful work!

    By Melissa Ramos

     

    Birds mesmerized David as a child.

    His mother often recounted his habit of staring at the Turkey Vultures hanging out in a dead Oak tree behind his childhood home in Oakland. David was particularly fascinated with how the vultures sunned their wings in the early morning sunlight. This rather Gothic image is an indelible memory and certainly was the image that helped spark David’s long career in the arts.

    Tufted Jay by David Tomb

    David always enjoyed drawing but loved drawing birds especially. This natural fit led him to eventually pursue life as a professional artist when he was an adult. Art making always stuck with him. He studied art in college and put in 20 years as a figurative artist, focusing less on birds. After the tragic events of 9/11, David made promise to himself: he would bird more.

    Long-billed Curlew, one of David’s many bird drawings.

    His new, intensive birding habit naturally circled back into his art; since 2007, David’s work has focused entirely on birds and conservation.

    “Odd Job” (Wagler’s Pit Viper with Mindanao Tarictic Hornbill and Collared Kingfisher)

    Like many birders, David’s process begins by going out in the field. He birds as much as he can locally. Observing birds in their natural behaviors is a big inspiration for David’s creative process. He supplements his process by visiting museums, galleries, and reading about birds as much as he can. While contemporary and modern art inspires and informs his work, he also allows birds to guide his content and aesthetics.

    Aplomado Falcon by David.

    For your viewing pleasure, here’s a gallery of David’s work, highlighted below.

    “On Demon Pond” (Collared Kingfishers) painted paper cutout collage Rufous Hornbill, Collection: US Embassy, Manila, Philippines

     

    Thick-billed Parrot by David Tomb

     

    Rock and Rockfowl, painted paper cut-out diorama of Ghana rainforest featuring Yellow-headed Picathartes (Rockfowl), 28 feet wide by 12 feet high. Installed at Fresno Art Museum, 2018, Solo exhibition: Rockfowl and other Wonders

     

    Installation: Philippine Eagle/Haribon nest, painted cut-out paper diorama, Fresno Art Museum, 2018, 25 feet wide by 12 high

     

    Installation detail: Philippine Eagle nest

     

    Detail, Picathartes, Rock and Rockfowl.…

  • Mandy, Feisty, the Mandarin Duck

    By Linda Swanson

     

    My story begins on November 17, 2014 in Golden Gate Park at the inlet curve of Stow Lake. Annually, one or two Wood Duck arrive and take residence among entwined branches at this spot. It was a pleasant surprise to see there was a female Wood Duck on that sunny morning. My thoughts were to post this sighting to the SF Birds forum. As I took confirmation iPhone photos, a walker stopped to see what I was doing. We chatted about her sister’s fondness for Wood Ducks and how nice it was to see one here in our city. I dashed home to compose my posting, reviewing my photos alongside the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, but the ID markings around the eye were not a match for Wood Duck.

    I was perplexed.

    I turned the pages to the exotic ducks section and was surprised to see this appeared to be a female Mandarin Duck. My ornithology instructor, Joe Morlan, taught us a critical thinking approach to IDing birds. He saved me from a hasty and incorrect report.

    Here’s a mantra Joe includes beneath his public postings about birds: “It turns out we’re very good at not seeing things” – Jack Hitt

    One of the first iPhone photos taken of Mandy, the Mandarin Duck near the Boathouse at Stow Lake, Golden Gate Park, Monday, November 17, 2014 at 10:11 am.

    *

    The Wood Ducks that populate Stow Lake each year are only there for summer months during while they molt. Then they migrate on. But this Mandarin Duck could not be a naturally occurring species as its range is scattered from Russia to Japan. (The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World”).

    So the question remained: how and why did this female Mandarin Duck arrive at Stow Lake?

    In the days that followed, the Mandarin Duck took up residence on the opposite side of Stow Lake that provides a nice habitat for the many ducks living there. It became the highlight of my daily run to see the Mandarin (whom I named Mandy). Eventually, I discovered her missing left wing feathers. I brought up the Mandarin in my ornithology class for discussion and learned of previous occurrences of Mandarin Duck nearby, one a decade prior at the Palace of Fine Arts, and in Sonoma County in the 1980s. Where had Mandy come from?…

  • Backyard Birding

    By Carol Oakes

     

    We all need positivity in our lives right now, which is why I’m encouraging everybody to start noticing the little joyful beings flitting around just outside your door. Birds are everywhere! One of the most fascinating aspects of our sheltering in place has been witnessing our local birds in unobstructed action. They are oblivious to the virus that has stopped the human world and are still going about business as usual. Nature continues and she is thriving with little interference from people.

    While we have all become experts at social distancing, and many of us are limited in our movements in and out of home, we ourselves are also becoming experts in our neighborhoods. Never have I seen so many people walking! It’s actually a pleasure to step outside and see families, children, and dogs, all strolling along the streets and chatting with neighbors from six feet away.

    Since I can no longer drive to my favorite Bay Area birding spots, I’m contenting myself with birding in my backyard, around my house, and around my neighborhood.

    Here are a few of the birds that have popped by to say hello in the past week.

     

    A colorful Spotted Towhee. Check out those bright orange eyes.

     

    Anna’s Hummingbird.

     

    The clown-like Acorn Woodpecker. Approximately nine inches long.

     

    Love that red beret!

     

    Nutall’s Woodpecker. Approximately seven and a half inches long. This picture was taken through my window, so it’s a bit blurry!

     

    California Scrub-Jay wondering when I’m going to add more suet to the feeder.

     

    A Golden-crowned Sparrow wondering the same.

     

    American Goldfinch.

     

    Beautiful male Hooded Oriole. Always a pleasure to welcome the Orioles back!

     

    An Oriole in the rain…

     

    A female Wild Turkey casually cruising through my backyard. This is a first!

     

    Beautiful tail feathers.

     

    One last look before disappearing into our unsuspecting neighbor’s backyard.

    So take a look around.

    Like it or not, we have extra time on our hands these days. We all have hobbies and interests of our own to occupy our hours. But I’d like to encourage you to set down your paintbrush, walk away from your jigsaw puzzle, glance up from your laptop. Go outside and take a moment to really look around your backyard, your front yard, out your window, and down your street.

    Check out the trees, the bushes, the grass.…

  • Earth Day 2020: Reflections

    Editor’s Note: Some of our GGBA staff and board have compiled their reflections on what Earth Day means to them and the actions we can collectively take to continue to protect the environment—and birds—we love.

     

     

    Pam Young, Executive Director

    I am very fortunate to be alive on another Earth Day, to take stock of our collective wellness, and recommit to foster actions that promote more biodiversity in every landscape, wetland, and seascape, big and little. My lodestar is native habitat. We need more of them. We need more clean air, more clean soil, and more clean water. From these actions, more habitat will follow, and healthy habitats that will help reduce the negative impacts of climate change.

    Is Earth Day just a day on our calendar? Its meaning and value fraught with layers from politics, to religion, to economics, to no meaning whatsoever. Is Earth Day weighted down by sound bites and branding? Let’s take today to re-elevate Earth Day. Make today a real opportunity to celebrate the Earth, even if for a moment. Even if just to go birding.

    Marbled Godwit by Briton Parker

    Let’s set aside that glaring reminder of the angst many of us share at what’s been plundered, abused, and killed by a thousand cuts.

    Earth will prevail – with or without us.

    From one of my favorite nature writers, Gary Lopez: “But for ….the keening of fifty species of birds, it is as quiet as the moon….you turn your cheek to the source of light and feel sheltered; you see amid the dwarf birch and dwarf willow at your feet speckled eggs cradled in birds’ nests. The grace so apparent in first life seems nowhere else so tender….”

    I am in love with our Earth!

     

    Melissa Ramos, Communications Manager

    I still have a lot to learn about how to better care for our Earth. Today I am contemplating ways I can help our planet by taking actions such as reducing my plastic use and eating a predominately plant based diet. I am also reflecting on my own personal history. Like many Dominican-Americans, I too am descended from native Taino, Indigenous and African populations that once occupied the island of Hispanola (now the modern day Dominican Republic and Haiti). Although I am two generations removed from the Dominican Republic, I am more interested than ever in reclaiming my heritage. A large part of this is learning how Tainos loved and cherished the planet.…