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INSTITUTE FOR FIELD ORNITHOLOGY | |
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INSTITUTE FOR FIELD ORNITHOLOGY2005 IFO Field Sketching and Bird Illustration Report Instructor: John Sill . 9-14 May 2005 . Franklin, North Carolina Eleven eager participants arrived at the Center at Rose Creek on Monday, 9 May 2005. After orientation and a delicious dinner, we settled in to an evening chorus of whip-poor-wills. Following a hearty breakfast on Tuesday, we were off to the Standing Indian area of the Nantahala National Forest for our first field trip. Checking out a variety of habitats, we began to get the birding flavor of the Southern Appalachians with birds like Chestnut-sided Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Least Flycatcher and Blue-headed Vireo. A brief thunderstorm sent us to the picnic shelter and our box lunch. Upon returning to Rose Creek, John did a demonstration using an overhead projector on how to draw a "basic" bird. Then John showed the group how he goes from sketch to finished painting, beginning with his field sketch of an Ovenbird that he made on the field trip. He completed the process while the class watched. After dinner the group enjoyed a presentation on the Cherokee by Bill Dyar, a local enthusiast on Indian lore. He appeared in full, authentic, historic, Cherokee regalia and provided a very informative and entertaining program on the history and culture of these Native Americans on whose land we were sitting. A 5:30am breakfast prepared us for our field trip to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park on Wednesday. We explored the Canadian zone habitat above 5,000-6,000' altitude at Clingman's Dome, seeing Brown Creeper, Canada Warbler, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch and hearing the remarkable song of the Winter Wren. A short hike up the creek followed our lunch at Collin's Creek picnic area in the park. We saw many wildflowers including the uncommon and beautiful showy orchid (orchis spectabilis). After returning, the participants began work on their own drawings from their experiences, with John answering questions and providing guidance. Thursday was all day studio work with participants working on their ideas for much of the day. John demonstrated how to do the often troublesome elements of birds such as bills, feet and eyes. Friday was our last field trip day. The Center at Rose Creek borders the Little Tennessee River, and on this morning we went several miles down the "Little T" to a newly protected area called Needmore. We enjoyed this beautiful and rich stretch of river, and a scope view of a preening Broad-winged Hawk. During our picnic at Arrow-wood Glade we had a lengthy and open view of an Acadian Flycatcher with participants seeing field marks that some had never noticed before. Paying attention to these details was getting results! Upon returning, participants worked at finishing pieces and John did a demonstration on painting rocks and leaf litter. After another delicious dinner we had our graduation and compiled our bird list. Most participants recorded life birds with one seeing 18. On Saturday we said our good-byes and literally scattered to the 4 winds with participants heading to homes in California, Florida, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and several states in between. ABA Institute for Field Ornithology, ABA |
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