June 2024 / No.11

Notes on my art and creative process

About my feathered neighbors, presented in three parts:

I based “Hidden Nest” on a patch of nearby cattails. I have noticed that despite their uniform shape in early summer, each one disintegrates in a unique manner as the weeks pass. I stopped to take a photo of their seasonal crumble and noticed red-winged black birds popping up from the reed bed. I figured there might be nests down there and moved along, not wanting to stress them out. But the boldness of scarlet-stripe-on-black-wing stuck with me.

Flocks of cedar waxwings dart around my neighborhood in November. They produce thousands of high-pitched cheeps while taking over entire trees. When out for walks, I see them all over the place: in front of my house, up the street, by the lake, down the street, by the train. I even hid one in “Karrow Side Road” (below) — can you find her?

The (American) robins amuse me. They do not flit about like chickadees and do not strut like crows. They stand around like miniature sentinels, soaking it all in. Recently, I noticed long pieces of wilted grass strewn all over my front porch and then saw a lot more grass sticking out from a rain gutter — the gathering of nest materials! I imagined baby birds being washed away during a spring downpour, so tried to dissuade the builders by placing a board on top of the gutter. The next day, they started building multiple nests on the sturdier base; my deterrent had made the spot more attractive (see link at bottom). The final total came to nine nests and the female has seemingly laid eggs in the sixth from the left; she rarely leaves that one now. I will have a full report in July.

Instagram: @DrawKevinDraw
Website: KevinTseng.com
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Footnote:
Why would robins build multiple nests?
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