See those Loons headed North? Wait, where's that one going?

Greetings Folks,

     Long time no entry, as I’ve spent the last few months painting and working on a website to showcase artwork. I’ve struggled with it mightily. I feel like a beat up old sedan trying to take an on-ramp to a highway jammed with Ferrari’s. More than one person has raised the question, “Why not pay someone to do it?” A reasonable suggestion, but it wouldn’t work, mostly because I’m still trying to understand what the website needs to be, and I’ll be changing artwork in and out on a regular basis. Beyond that, there’s something to be said for taking on new directions to keep the old noggin limber.

     Challenges are good, but designing a website is not for the feint of heart. When I hit a problem I go to the Mac forums, and searching the topics, you come across a written record of people in their most frustrated moments. There are those who know to post questions with the right attitude; namely-humility. They understand you can catch more flies with honey. Then there are those at the end of an all night struggle, who post questions with an air of outrage and general blame, as if the people who inhabit the forums (the ones who could possibly help them) are responsible for the internet being designed the way it is, and thus have some obligation for getting them out of whatever jam they’ve in. I don’t say this in a smug fashion. I’ve been that person, and could be again before my website is finished. The whole endeavor reminds me of customers that have come into Native Nurseries, the garden shop I have worked at for many years. If a middle aged person has spent their life avoiding any knowledge of perennial gardening, it’s not my obligation to make up for it on a busy Saturday afternoon.  Sometimes, we have no idea how much we don’t know. At least on that point, I’ve been schooled pretty well.

     Where this blog is concerned, I will try to do it a bit more often, but I will be moving it to the website, which by the way, is called The Weather Rail Studio, in keeping with the title of my blog. The address is theweatherrailstudio.com. This blog will be there, as it makes sense to have everything in one spot. The website will display a wider range of my artwork, and showcase new projects. I will have a little retail shop as well in the offing, to sell prints, cards and t-shirts, so look for that...in a year or so realistically. Truth is, I wouldn’t even be speaking of the website, but I had the opportunity to have artwork published in the sailing magazine Small Craft Advisor and I felt like I should mention it in my profile. I had hoped to have the website pretty much done by the time it went to print, but so many little snags, also I dropped my laptop. My thanks goes to my friend Gabi Mallen for advising me that I could order a new LCD screen and fix it myself...which I did! Thanks Gabi!

     Anyway, I put up my website on-line in the hopes of just my art school compadres offering biting criticisms, while it flew under the radar of anyone else. Except now the readers of Small Craft Advisor can scratch their heads at what I’m doing. (It’s not quite finished).
My thanks goes to Josh Colvin of Small Craft Advisor, for finding room for my stuff in the magazine-friends and family can go to West Marine and look for the May-June issue.

     Meanwhile, the 16th Annual Apalachicola Antique and Classic Boat Show just wrapped up. I entered my sailboat in the show, and convinced Jody to bring his daughter Vanessa’s newly completed Swan down as well. It didn’t take much convincing. I think Jody realized it was only fair to the share their beautiful work and help buoy the event, which it did and I’m not kidding. I say this  because Apalachicola has been good to us. We've made frequent use of their excellent boat ramp and local restaurants, so we at least owed them a few boats for their show.

Jody brought Swan, which I feature in a watercolor here....

And his blue tang, which I featured in this image here.....

      Vanessa took a break from her classes at U of F Veterinary school to attend the show and with her dad had a great time there on the corner of Water Street meeting people and discussing the building of Swan, which they finished in late 2012, and for their effort they hauled in a Best Home Build Award for their boat. You can peruse the building of the Swan in a blog Vanessa kept during the process by clicking here.

      My Sharpie Tramontana got Best in Show Sailboat, which I was elated over, if not a bit sheepish. My boat’s clearly a garage boat, unlike Swan which really a finely finished sailboat. I figured Tramontana would be useful to use as a comparison for the perfect boats, but none of them showed due to bad weather. We heard several more entries were expected. Maybe the judges liked some scuffs and gouges, which Trammy has a-plenty, but truthfully, I never saw them bend down and look at her underside. Suits me, I might have taken umbrage at that. I saw the judges laugh and say something about ‘epoxy’ (like what would these guys do without it.) A question I’ve often thought myself, as it hides all-or most crimes, like when the belt sander got away from me back towards the stern. Anyway, she has a real nice color scheme, I’m proud of that.

All in all the best part was meeting some really interesting people who stopped by. It’s fun to come into contact with complete strangers with whom you share an avid interest. This was maybe the first time I’ve ever had that experience so directly.

Me, Vanessa and Jody Walthall at the 16th Annual Apalachicola Antique and Classic Boat Show.

      Meanwhile as the boat show was going on a cold front was driving in from the west, and we heard about an unusual event happening at the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge. All the songbirds crossing the gulf were caught out over open water by a sturdy cold north wind. I hate to think how many annually don’t make it, but those who got to the marshes of St. Marks were too tired to fly anymore and were hunkering down on the ground. This phenomenon is called a ‘Fallout.’ Curious hikers were walking among the birds, and as we drove back home along the coast road we saw lots of indigo buntings flitting along the roadside. In fact, folks in Tallahassee have had some amazing feeder visitations, to the tune of a dozen or so buntings at a time, (a first that I’m aware of) plus blue and rose-breasted grosbeaks as well. Oh, and painted buntings too! Tonight we had the first rose-breasted grosbeak I have ever seen at our feeder at home, and I was struck by how large and striking they are. I’m always aware that what to us is an wonderful event, might indicate a real stressful time for the creatures we are observing. I think about stories of sailors looking up and seeing hundreds of songbirds in the rigging of their vessels at such times.

Male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks

      It’s been an odd late winter/spring in terms of weather. Our annual beach clean up had to be cancelled due to bad weather, and so have our other attempts at day-sails. We have another one coming up on the calendar, let’s keep our fingers crossed. We did get some good canoeing in among the marshes this winter, and I was struck by how many scores of shore-birds and ducks one can see if you take a moment to scan the horizon among the marshes. What seems like an empty space becomes very different with a good pair of binoculars. You realize there are hundreds of birds all around in the vast space...so exhilarating; especially to someone like me who grew up in Florida, but was never aware of this migration of birds that happens all over the state.

Oystercatchers on a bar. An odd name, yet sensible in that they spend lots of time on Oyster bars. Also the bill is the exact shape of the business end of an oyster-shucker. They don't eat oysters however.  That bill is used for foraging in the mud for tube worms and crustaceans. A funny thing about these shorebirds; they spend a lot of time at rest standing on one leg. Only they shift their weight so slightly that it looks like they are defying gravity. The middle bird is inaccurately depicted, but if I showed the leg straight up and down off to one side, it would look bizarre.

    Case in point, Jody likes to accompany a local ornithologist Paul Spitzer who comes down every winter to observe and monitor Loons that over-winter in the Gulf of Mexico. We see the birds while sailing; very large and striking they are, low in the water and frequently diving for fish. Their call is distinctive and a classic mainstay of Hollywood background sounds. (Often in a cowboy movie out in the desert). Paul Spitzer observed an interesting phenomenon and no doubt saw a lot of it this weekend. Paul takes up an observation point in the St. Marks Refuge and counts North-bound Loons. When the birds come over the land, many will abruptly turn about and head back out to sea. You can read a little about these aborted flights here in the Wakulla News. It’s a short read, and very interesting. Birds are amazingly intelligent.

I found it curious that an ornithologist would find value in observing from one point on the coast. Does he have figures for extrapolating the over all migration pattern along a wide area, or is it what Jody surmised.....St. Marks is on a major flyway and these animals have worn a groove of moving through this area, perhaps they’ve learned of safe spots all along the way to their breeding grounds along the Northern Atlantic coast? He does see hundreds of birds in a day, so it would make sense. Next winter I’ll try and tag along and maybe I’ll get that question answered.

One things for sure, it seems all these Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were off their normal flyway. I say that, but the guide books show this area as part of their normal route. It's just unusual how many we had this year. I wonder...next spring, will this happen again? We have some very bird-friendly neighborhoods here in Tallahassee, and the feeders are well stocked. You never know, word may spread!


Hey! I’m done. Let me raise my coffee cup to you. Salute! I appreciate you visiting.

Brian