Song Sparrows sure seem to be friendly little birds. Their cheery “Madge-Madge-Madge, put-on-your-tea-kettle-ettle-ettle” call is always a welcome sound. We get them in our yard frequently, but in really low numbers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than one at a time. We’ve been lucky to know a couple on a more personal level.
A few years ago we had an individual that seemed to have a broken wing. The poor thing couldn’t fly and held its wing drooped down all the time. It would visit under our bird feeder, then hop its way over to the safety of the nearby hedge. For weeks it went on, and miraculously the little trooper evaded the Cooper’s Hawk and neighbor’s cats. The kids took to calling it “Bounce SOSP” (SOSP is the bird banding code for Song Sparrow). Though its color and feathering looked great, weeks went by with no visible improvement to its wing. The little guy seemed to be happy enough, calling all the time. As the summer moved on, Bounce SOSP was gradually able to lift its wing up, and when hopping around the lawn, it would add in a tiny flutter and short glide here and there. As late summer started got underway, the bird was taking short flights to and from the hedge. By fall our little hero was flying around like nothing had ever happened. What a huge relief! Eventually, it migrated. Though sad to see it go, we were glad it had that option. Every summer since then we have had a Song Sparrow coming to the feeders, and we always wonder if it is the same bird. I sure hope so.
Due to a few technical problems with the camera, there is no time-lapse video for this painting. It was a fairly straightforward painting, though. The one thing that was different was that I forced myself to stop working on the background after a single wet-on-wet wash. Typically I add a few more layers to intensify and even out colors, but with this one I was happy early on and thought I’d try to leave it alone and not overwork things. Sometimes watercolor should look washy and wet! In the old days I would’ve taken out the airbrush for something like this, but I really love the granulation in the sky and subtle backruns implying foliage. What do you think?
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