Beautiful Sunbird

Sunbirds are exqusite jewels of birds that flit around all over The Gambia.

Blue Bellied Roller

Another Gambia watercolour.

Blue Bellied Kingfisher

Well, another over-lengthy delay between posts, but a lot has happened! Christmas for one thing, which was very busy this year both at the gallery and at home. Also we've been to the Gambia for a two week bird watching break. It is an astounding place to bird watch and this is the first of several watercolours I'll be posting here.

We saw over 150 species without putting ourselves out much. To be honest I get tired with just ticking off endless different birds. On a shortish trip it's much better to have a good look at those nearby, and there are many in The Gambia wherever you are.

The Blue Bellied was one of four species of Kingfisher we saw, including the world's largest, the Jackdaw-sized Giant Kingfisher, which makes quite a splash when it crashes into a pond. The Blue Bellied is about the size of a Starling and our superb guide Morro could attract them to him with just a whistle!

Bullfinch

Bullfinches are high on my list of favourite creatures. They are shy, yet sometimes tolerate human presence, as did the pair that nested in our beech hedge no more than 3 or 4 yards from our kitchen window. Both the male and the female are exquisitely beautiful but she, instead having a rose-coloured breast, is tinted like a plum.

Where you see one Bully you'll nearly always see their mate, who stays in touch with a soft whistle. Often all you'll see is a white rump disappearing into the shade.

Heron

Herons need to be painted in a loose way I think as they've got very loose feathering. I'll be posting a couple more images of these so-sculptural birds soon.

Mallard Duck

Another Baddesley Clinton inspired Mallard, this time a lady. It would be great to live in a place like Baddesley Clinton - a house with a real moat. Apparently it was a sort of writer's retreat in the 19th century which doesn't surprise me. It would be easy to be creative there I think.

If you've never been to this National Trust house it's an absolute must, if only for the excellent restaurant. And you can visit another fabulous Elizabethan mansion, Packwood House with its stunning topiary hedges and glorious mellow brickwork, just a couple of miles down the road.

Mallard Drake

Another long gap I'm afraid - Val's ankle is taking a while to heal and there's a lot to do. However, we did visit Baddesley Clinton, a fantastic Elizabethan moated manor house, and I was much taken by the very tame Mallards in the moat.