Day 30 - Badger

Well I had to finish off my little tribute to British Wildlife with our beloved badger, an icon of our British countryside. The badger was pipped at the post by the hedgehog in a poll earlier this year by BBC Wildlife Magazine to find a national species.

They have long been persecuted for their supposed risk to cattle in transporting Bovine Tb and are currently being culled as a means of controlling them in Somerset and Gloucestershire.

For other paintings of badgers I have done this month click here.

So there you go - thirty paintings in thirty days - I met the challenge - woooooohoooooooo!!!!  If you missed any you can click here and scroll through them.  Thank you sooo much for those of you who have been following and encouraging me to keep going as there were times when I started to lag behind and it was quite a pressure to catch up again!  I'll definitely keep painting our great British wildlife as I've only skimmed the surface in the last 30 days!  

I hope you've enjoyed following - here are the other artists who have taken part on Leslie's blog.  There have been some amazingly detailed works posted, I don't know how they've kept it up.

Day 28 and 29 - Heron and Hare

Heron in flight 

from photo by Gary Jones

I've always had a bit of a fascination for herons for as long as I can remember so I couldn't do a British Wildlife theme without painting one.  I remember my friend and I would always walk down by the River Dee in Chester with a cheeseburger from the burger van after a night on the town to visit the heron who would always be there in the same spot. We nicknamed him Gil Scott the Heron after the American soul and jazz musician Gil Scott Heron also known as 'the godfather of rap'.  Ah memories!  Now I've had to search 'The Bottle' by Gil Scott Heron - here it is on you tube if you're interested !!

Anyway back to real herons rather than influential musicians!  Grey herons are unmistakeable birds which you'll find around any kind of water.  In or near water they will often stand motionless with their head tucked into their shoulders.  I love to watch them patiently stalking fish, the way they move and then suddenly go in for the kill.  Excellent fishermen!

And for Day 29 I painted another hare, this time from a photo by Paul Sherman, a bit slapdash this one as I've had to squeeze two paintings in one evening so that I've only got one to do on the last day of the month tomorrow evening - then I'll have completed my 30 paintings in 30 days  woooo hoooooo!!!!

And to finish today's post here is a photo of the view from the summit Foel Fenlli this evening looking over Moel Famau on the Clwydian range of hills.  Beautiful although a little breezy!

Day 27 - Kestrel!

Kestrels are found in a wide variety of habitats and in fact the place we usually tend to see them is hovering  beside a motorway in search of prey.  The kestrel belongs to the falcon family and are small compared to other birds of prey. Like most birds of prey they have extremely good eyesight enabling them to spot small prey from a distance. When hunting they hover characteristically above the ground, making a steep dive when they spot something tasty!  

This watercolour is of a young female kestrel, about 5 months old which Gary and I had the privilege of flying today at a Bird of Prey experience at Ty Mawr Mansion in Ceredigion.  

Day 26 - Avocet

The avocet is the emblem of the RSPB, a distinctively patterned black and white wader with that wonderful upcurved beak!  Wonderful birds to paint - for another avocet I did a few weeks back click here.

Tomorrow Gary and I are off on a Falconry Day in Mid Wales - it's been cancelled 4 times before due to weather but fingers crossed it will go ahead tomorrow - really looking forward to it and am sure to find some inspiration for paintings!  Hopefully I'll have time to do a quick sketch for the challenge when we get home tomorrow evening!

Day 25 - Eider Duck

The Common Eider is the UK's heaviest and the fastest flying duck. The Eider is a true sea duck, rarely found away from our coasts -  and a striking one at that with it's angular head and plump body and they make a wonderful sound, a sort of  'ahhrooo'.  The male Eider is Gary's favourite duck and I can understand why - stunning birds!  As with many birds, it is the male that has the most striking plumage. Female eiders are less impressive, with a mottled brown appearance though still easily distinguishable from other seabirds.  

If you'd like to hear what the Eider sounds like then click here and scroll down to the audio!

We finally got back into the mountains of Snowdonia last week after a few months of not being out walking due to very annoying health issues!  So poor old Two Pairs of Boots, has had it's first post for a few months!  Here's a taster to wet your appetite, one of my favourite views of Llyn Cau at Cadair Idris.  

Day 24 - Grey Seal

Grey seals are the largest living carnivore in Britain with around half the world's population living around the British coastline.  This watercolour sketch was done from one of Gary's photos taken on the Farne Islands where there is one of the largest populations of grey seals in the UK.  They were the first mammals to be protected by modern legislation - the Grey Seals Protection Act of 1914.

Grey Seals differ in appearance from the Common Seal  in that they have a longer muzzle.  The colour of the fur varies from brown to silver grey often with dark blotches.  Grey seals can dive to a depth of over 60 metres. On average they dive for around 8 minutes but are able to stay underwater for up to 30 minutes before coming up for air!

I'm feeling relieved that I'm up to date with these paitnings - only a few more days to go.  Thank you so much those of you who have been following, and supporting and well done to those of you who are also taking on this challenge - we're nearly there!!!!  

If you missed paintings 22 and 23, the hare and the mole you can find them HERE.

If you'd like to catch up with where we've been walking lately I've just posted a new blog on our joint walking site Two pairs of boots, first post in quite a while, pop over to find out why!

Day 22 and 23 - catching up!!

Two quickies for you today as I needed to play catch up!  3 days behind aaarrrghhh!  This hare sketchy was painted from a photo by Gary Jones. Yet another species which has seen a big decline in the last century in Britain - to read more about the brown hare click this link which takes you to the Hare Preservation Trust website.

and for painting no. 23 I've done a little moley - the ultimate digging machine!  About 30 species of mole are said to exist throughout the world but the only mole present in Britain is the European mole - their eyes are small and completely hidden in the fur - so quite a challenge to paint as I do tend to focus on the eyes when painting animals - but I hope I've given my little moley some character!

Now I'd better get on and paint no. 24!!!!