Category: Uncategorized

The kōtuku is common in Australia, the South Pacific and Asia.

In New Zealand it only breeds near Whataroa, South Westland, between September and January. This colony is in the Waitangiroto Nature Reserve and guided jet boat tours take visitors to view the birds from an observation hide.
Source:
DOC

The white heron or kotuku is well-loved by the New Zealand people, but it is rarely seen except by those who specifically seek it out. Its sole New Zealand breeding site near Okarito Lagoon in Westland is well-known and well-protected, but elsewhere it is ‘He kotuku rerenga tahi’ or the bird of single flight, implying something seen perhaps once in a lifetime. When seen in close proximity it is a magnificent bird, with its large size and clean white plumage.
Source:
NZ birds online

A large white heron with a long yellow bill, long dark legs and a very long neck. When breeding, the bill becomes grey-black and long filamentous plumes develop, mainly on the back.
In flight, the white heron tucks its head back into its shoulders so that the length of its neck is hidden, giving it a hunched appearance.
When walking, the white heron has an elegant upright stance showing the extreme length of its neck.
When resting it is more hunched with its head tucked in, making the bird appear more bulky.
​Source:
NZ birds online

Important identification characters when separating white herons from other white egret species in New Zealand include overall size, relative neck length, bill colour and shape, and how far the gape (i.e. the corner of the mouth) extends back in relation to the eye. The white heron is the largest, longest-necked of the egrets, and the gape extends well behind the eye.
Source:
NZ birds online

​The most difficult part of this bird for me is the way that the beak and the eye interact and are connected, so that will be my focus in the research images. As always, I am also interested in how the legs and feet work, and how they use their wings.

From a quick structural sketch to a first draft – I have started placing the legs (which are often hidden underwater in the reference photos), and blocked in where I think the wing feathers are. To avoid making white wings look too dark, I think I will just do these as outlines rather than drawing in all the individual feathers.

El Huzbando has been in Melbourne for work for the last 4 days, and his flight lands around midnight. It’s far too late at night for me to drive, so I came out early with my laptop to finish working on these designs. It’s weird being almost the only person here.

Now, it’s time to take these draft sketches to finished detail, using some other reference pictures that show the details more clearly.

I noticed that there are two types of plumage, as with a lot of birds, but that they also change the beak colours, so I decided to show one bird in full breeding plumage and colouring, and one in transition, so it was important to really look at the beak.

And done!

Over the last few weeks, I have drawn a whopping 23 birds, drawing one (almost) every weekday.
Here is a summary of all of those birds – click on the links below to visit the relevant blog posts.

1. Antipodean wandering albatross/toroa
2. Australasian bittern/matuku-hūrepo
3. Chatham Island black robin
4. Black stilt/kakī
5. Black-billed gull/tarāpuka
6. Chatham Island oystercatcher/tōrea tai
7. Chatham Island shag
8. Chatham Island tāiko
9. Gibson’s wandering albatross/toroa
10. Grey duck/pārera
11. Haast tokoeka
12. Kākāpō
13. Kermadec white-faced storm petrel
14. New Zealand fairy tern/tara iti
15. Orange-fronted parakeet/kākāriki karaka
16. Pacific white tern 
17. Pitt Island shag
18. Rock wren/pīwauwau
19. Salvin’s albatross/toroa
20. Shore plover/tuturuatu
21. South Georgian diving petrel
22. Southern New Zealand dotterel/tūturiwhatu
23. White heron/kōtuku

Only one design left – the winner of the Forest & Bird Bird of the Year 2019, ​the Hoiho, or Yellow-eyed penguin. Keep your eyes peeled for that article, and the designs that I make from these drawings!

EDITED TO ADD:
Find the Hoiho post here!

We love to fill our home with art, craft, and decorations made by local makers. We invite you to join us for a walk around our place, having a look at the pieces that aren’t currently packed away.

​After we finished the bathrooms, we moved on to remodel the kitchen. One thing that we added was a set of shelves so that we can get some things off the benchtop, and also add some more character to the room.

​We have gradually colonised the shelves, as I make things and as we buy more art and craft creations.

As well as my laser cut designs, we have doughnuts by Retro Tonic, a crocheted cactus by Goblin Market, and bowls by Aimee McLeod – Potter.

We really enjoy visiting markets when we don’t have stalls, too – nothing like being able to actually relax, rather than sprint around in the hope that you don’t lose any sales while you have a quick shop, yourself!

​We also have other little incidental artworks, like this woven bowl by Niche Textile Studio, or this adorable little bird by Amy Cherie Art, purchased as a karma seed from the Petone Indoor Markets.

​We love to get custom-printed Copper Catkin fabrics made into practical things – so we have teatowels from Roostery, below. You can also spot a plastic-bag holder by O Sew Crafty, repurposed to hold our soft plastic recycling now.

​Used as a placemat, they also make my little work table into a fancy side-table.

​These are the three designs that we have ordered. You can click on the image to shop on Roostery for that design, or click the button to shop for all our teatowel designs.

​We also have bowl and tin covers from Snaxpax, and we ordered custom food pouches as gifts for the whole family last year.

I got this little cyclamen on a whim – I hadn’t even seen one with such tiny flowers, or such a vibrant colour. It cheered me up through the whole of the winter, and is finally going dormant now in late spring. It also made a glorious background to my photos of my succulents, which I have drawn and talked about in this post.

One of the things I find most fascinating is the upside-down, inside-out flowers. 

Another interesting thing that I learnt in passing was that the variegation on the leaves is actually not just a variation in the colour of the leaf itself – there are several types of variegation. This one is called “chimeral”, specifically, reflective. 

Some variegation is due to visual effects caused by reflection of light from the leaf surface. This can happen when an air layer is located just under the epidermis resulting in a white or silvery reflection. […] Leaves of most Cyclamen species show such patterned variegation, varying between plants, but consistent within each plant.

Source:
​Wikipedia

I have explored the different types of parrots in the kākāpō post, so I won’t go into that here. I grew up signing the rainbow in Te Reo at primary school, so for me, “k​ākāriki” means “green”, and “karaka” means orange, so this bird’s name is a bit confusing for my super-basic Māori language skills!

As it turns out, the colour “k​ākāriki” is named after the bird, just like the colour “karaka” means orange because the name comes from the colour of the fruit of the karaka tree.

The etymology is: from kākā, parrot + riki, small. The word is also used to refer to the colour green because of the birds’ predominantly green plumage.
Source:
Wikipedia

​The word “k​ākāriki” also has several other uses in Te Reo – click here to read about them.

Malherbe’s parakeet (Cyanoramphus malherbi), usually known as the orange-fronted parakeet or in Māori, kākāriki karaka, is a small parrot endemic to New Zealand. In New Zealand it is always known as the orange-fronted parakeet, a name it shares with a species from Central America, while in the rest of the world it is known as Malherbe’s parakeet.[3] Restricted to a few valleys in the South Island and four offshore islands, its population declined to around 200 in the 1990s, and it is now considered critically endangered.
Source:
​Wikipedia

This budgerigar-sized parakeet is usually quiet and difficult to observe. A loud brief chatter or quieter contact call may give away its presence, but locating the bird can be extremely difficult. Orange-fronted parakeets are often confused with yellow-crowned parakeets. Formerly occurring throughout New Zealand, orange-fronted parakeets are now confined to four South Island beech forest valleys. Captive-reared birds have also been released on four offshore islands.
Source:
NZ birds online

Reports from the 1800s show that orange-fronted parakeets were once found throughout New Zealand. However, their distribution has reduced dramatically over the last century and the orange-fronted parakeet is now our rarest parakeet and forest bird in New Zealand.

The remaining populations are all within a 30 km radius in beech forests of upland valleys within Arthur’s Pass National Park and Lake Sumner Forest Park in Canterbury, South Island. The easiest place to see them, although still difficult, is in the Hawdon valley in Arthur’s Pass National Park.

Although kākāriki karaka are now confined to these few valleys, historic records suggest that in the later years of the 1800s, when beech seed was bountiful during mast years, the parakeets would have a breeding boom and disperse onto the Canterbury Plains.
Source:
DOC

Reading the descriptions of the birds is a really important way of identifying the details that must be captured in my sketches.

Cyanoramphus malherbi is a medium size parrot, approximately 20 centimetres long. Its body is primarily a bright blue-green, with azure blue primary covert and leading edge feathers on its wings.

It has a distinctive (and diagnostic) orange frontal band on its yellow crown, but this is absent in juvenile birds, which have fully green heads. The orange frontal band begins to develop when the bird is 2–5 weeks old. Its rump has orange patches on the sides. Colouration in males tends to be brighter, and juveniles are distinctly duller.

The only reliable features that separate mature orange-fronted parakeets from the similar yellow-crowned parakeet (C. auriceps) are the colour of the frontal band and rump.
Source:
Wikipedia

A first quick sketch to decide on what I was going to draw:

I started out by checking if the colours worked with the kakapo design – and no, they are quite different colours, although there were a couple of shades in common. 

I was cranking to get this all coloured and finished in time for the market this afternoon, and I juuuust made it!

We are choosing not to print our instructions, to reduce waste and our impact on the environment. 

With that in mind, we are going to put instructions for our various Colour-Cut-And-Sew projects on the blog instead. 

Here’s how to make this bag – lined, and unlined.

​A – your CCS fabric – includes the body of the bag, and two straps. You can colour this in first, or afterwards. Choose whatever colouring media you like, and be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions to set the colour.
1 – the ‘good’ side, or printed side, also showing the seam allowance
2 – the ‘bad’ or unprinted side
3 – new stitches to sew for this step

​B – when lining the bag, these two pieces can be cut from your own stash, or from Copper Catkin fat quarters. You will need two fat quarters, cut to x by y, where x = the width of A. and y = half the length of A plus a 2cm seam allowance

​Folding the fabric so that the good side is on the inside, form a tube. Sew all down the open side, then turn inside-out. Press neatly with the seam down the middle of one side.

​Pin the pressed straps to the good side of the bag, and stitch in place along the top.

​Fold towards the “bad” side and press along the top edges, then stitch two more rows to secure the straps.

​Folding the bag in half with the good side facing inwards, sew the two side seams.

​Turn right-side-out, and press. Your unlined bag is finished!

Complete steps 1 and 2 as above.
Attach your lining along the top edges of the bag.
​The two lining pieces should overlap a little – this will form the seam allowance for the bottom of the lining.

Flatten out the bag and sew along the top edges, below your previous stitches, to reinforce the handles. Ensure you are not sewing the lining as well at this stage.

Fold the whole length of the bag in half, good side inwards, and sew up the sides and along the bottom of the lining, leaving a gap at the bottom of the lining. 

​Turn the bag right-side-out by pulling it through this gap, then stitch gap closed, and press if desired.

And here’s an example of a finished bag for reference:

How did you get on with yours? Pop over to our Facebook page and send us a message with photos, if you like!

Not that long ago, I found out that black-billed gulls were actually endangered. I hadn’t ever really looked at the seagulls at the beach except to protect whatever I was trying to eat*, or avoid being pooed on, as happened on a recent walk along Petone foreshore.
​
*Never feed gulls any food or scraps – some of our food is harmful to them.

The black-billed gull has the unfortunate status of being the most threatened gull species in the world. Stronghold populations have rapidly declined by as much as 80%, resulting in its threat status being upgraded from Nationally Endangered to Nationally Critical in 2013.
Source:
DOC

Though still relatively abundant, numbers of birds throughout the South Island have rapidly declined. Nevertheless, colonies can still number in the thousands. The black-billed gull is found only in New Zealand, unlike our two other common gull species. They are less likely to be found in towns and cities than the other gulls, and are not commonly observed scavenging for food. Interestingly, though declining overall, the black-billed gull has expanded its breeding range in the North Island in the last few decades, and now breeds as far north as the Kaipara Harbour.
Source:
NZ birds online

As a Kiwi, on our islands where almost nowhere is too far from the ocean to get visits from seagulls, I am pretty familiar with them, in a general sense, so I know what types of poses I want before I even start drawing – flying, standing, floating, and doing a SCREM.

Quick scribbles are really useful to establish what might or might not work.

So these guys appear to have the same kind of webbed feet as ducks. Getting them not to look silly is quite difficult!

And then, as previously, I use existing designs to ensure that the colours used are consistent across the board, and the reference photos to identify colours that will be specific to this design.

And there we go – the first week of a bird a day is complete!

Breeding sites [for black-billed gulls] are mainly the large braided riverbeds of the South Island. There are scattered colonies on the North Island coast, along with braided rivers in the Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa, as well as Lake Rotorua and Lake Taupo.
​Source:
DOC
​Please take special care not to drive or walk in areas where birds are nesting – they are easy to spot if you are paying attention. 

​Braided rivers are a beautiful part of the New Zealand landscape.

In my family, we are particularly tied to the Rakaia River mouth, so braided rivers have a special place in my heart. That’s why I commissioned this beautiful tide clock from Wooden Kiwi for my mum in 2017.

​These are personal family photos of the beautiful Rakaia River mouth, which generally forms a “lagoon” against the shingle bank. We often saw birds nesting on this bank, and carefully avoided the area.

It’s sometimes hard to get started on a drawing. Generally, I just let myself choose another task, and come back to the drawing when the mood takes me – but I have committed to a bird every weekday, so here we go – my first attempt at overcoming “drawer’s block”.

We looked at the Chatham Islands for the Chatham Islands black robin last week, so I won’t repeat myself there. Many of our most endangered species appear to have a last toehold there, though. It must be a fascinating place to visit, as a wildlife photographer. 

The Chatham Island oystercatcher (torea) is a threatened species found only on the Chatham Islands, 800 km to the east of mainland New Zealand. Although pied (black-and-white), and similar in appearance to the pied morph of the variable oystercatcher, it is a smaller and stockier bird. Pairs defend coastal territories throughout the year in rocky and sandy sites around the islands of the Chathams.
Source:
NZ birds online

This black and white wader is unique to the Chatham Islands. It is an endangered species with a high risk of extinction due to its very small population and range.
Source:
​DOC

Ok, well, these guys are actually adorable, so I think, yep, I am getting the urge to draw them, yay!

I make the initial sketches (grey), then I go over them in black. This reflects my technique on paper, with pencil sketches followed by finals in pen. 

As with all my other pieces, I use the existing drawings to ensure that the same shades are used in the plumage, then use reference photos to choose colours specific to this bird, usually the beak and/or feet. 

Finished! I really like these guys. I definitely had to show a bird nesting on the shingle – their nests, like many of our endangered birds, are almost invisible against the stones around them. PLEASE, take great care around nesting areas.

​Oystercatchers depend on the coast for their food and for a safe place to rear their young. Nesting birds are easily disturbed by people and will move from the nest to draw you away. Birds with chicks are often noisy and may swoop.

If birds appear to be disturbed by your presence, move further along the beach.
Walk or drive below the high tide mark to avoid crushing eggs or chicks.
If you are travelling to the Chatham Islands, or transporting goods or livestock there, be careful that you don’t introduce pest animals and plants or diseases. These could threaten the flora and fauna in this unique environment.

​Source:
​DOC

Today has been a busy day, with errands and earrings taking up most of the daylight. As I finally settle down to draw, El Huzbando is already making our dinner!

Shags have a very distinct silhouette, and, with their amusing name, became one of the only non-forest birds that I could recognise easily – but there are so many species! 
The watercolour image below shows the importance of tiny details in making sure each species is correctly represented.

The Chatham Island shag is a critically endangered shag which, as its name suggests, is restricted to the Chatham Islands. It is the only large black-and-white shag in the island group. Despite their declining population, Chatham Island shags can still readily be found roosting on headlands along the rocky coast line. They are entirely marine, dispersing from colonies and roost sites to forage in coastal waters and within parts of the brackish Te Whanga Lagoon. During breeding, compact colonies form on rocky headlands and offshore islets located throughout the Chatham Islands.
Source:
NZ birds online

These pictures illustrate my process of matching the colours from the photos – just colour-dropping the photos doesn’t work, as the colours you see in a photo are not the colours that actually make up the pixels of that photo. Here, you can see the colour-dropped orange, compared to the orange that I actually matched by eye to the photo. 

I particularly enjoy the blue eyes and punky hairstyles of these wee blokes.

​Populations of Chatham Island shag are threatened by loss of breeding habitat, disturbance from stock, human persecution, introduced predators, and gull predation. However, given that population declines have been recorded at colonies on remote predator-free offshore islands, it is likely that some type of at-sea effects are impacting on the population. There has been no direct conservation management action to benefit Chatham Island shag other than co-ordinated island-wide population censuses. The recent increase in fencing coastal habitats on the Chatham Islands will prevent stock from gaining access to some colonies, thereby reducing disturbance.

The conservation status of this species was changed from nationally endangered to nationally critical.
Source:
NZ birds online

My first thought was: “Magenta petrel” sounds amazing… but the bird is not at all pink or red…
“​At sea, one bird was taken as a specimen in 1867 and named the Magenta petrel after the Italian expedition’s ship” – oh. 

​The tāiko is among New Zealand’s most endangered species. It’s considered to be on the brink of extinction, with about only 15 known breeding pairs.

The tāiko was believed to be extinct for almost a century, until its rediscovery by David Crockett in 1978. In 1987, the first tāiko burrow was found in southern Chatham Island.

Source:
NZ birds online

The reference photos in this particular NZ birds online article are really useful – lots of great, clear pictures of the head and wings. As usual, no good pictures of their wee feet, but I can figure them out. 

I find it particularly interesting that these birds burrow. Check out this clip from the Chatham Island Taiko Trust Facebook page!

The reference photos are great, but there aren’t many to show how the birds actually move around. Most of the resources show the birds being handled, as with the clip below, or are from quite a long way away – so if I have made errors, I apologise.

Now that I have completed my initial sketches, it’s time to choose the final lines.

And, as usual, I use reference photos to set the colours. These birds are definitely not grey, though, so I have broken with tradition and used brown-grey tones to colour them in.

I thought about standing them on rocks, but I can’t decide if I like that or not. The pose looks weird without rocks, though. I will revisit this when I build the final design, but I think no rocks is best for now.