Time???!

A wet humid morning in the valley here.

 

Time is everyone's biggest nemesis, whether we realize it or not.  It has been going through my fingers like sand this summer...maybe part of that is because of the weather, but then there has been a lot going on in the family as well.

 

Evening Rainbows, showers and lightning out front.

We've had a wet late spring and now summer...just 4" this week alone, and I believe our June had around 9 inches.  That is very wet for us, especially seeing we were in a severe drought here from 2020 through 2023 (4 years)...then after a record flood in early 2024 last June, it stopped raining...for months.  Its really screwed up I'd say!

The weather has been great for a change though, but with it comes more work to keep up with things...Georgie in the gardens, me in the pastures and ditches.  Keeping up with weeds on steroids is something we haven't seen for awhile...at least "some" pull more easily, others still need the fork.

 I haven't gotten off the place in some time; my artwork has taken a hiatus.  Too much to get into here, but actually most summers have too much outside time to get in any amount of "easel" time...that works better in the winter when the snow and ice put an end to outdoor chores (other than shoveling or plowing anyway).  But I love the prairie pasture when it wakes up, and wouldn't have it any other way!

 

Baltimore Oriole at its nest here on the acreage!

And the birds!  My greatest love since childhood!  They have not disappointed either...I think I just opened our 50th 32 ounce jar of grape jelly since spring for the Orioles!  We have lots and they serenade us and flash their exuberance and colors...we have both Baltimores and Orchard Orioles here - multiple pairs.

 

Red-headed Woodpecker adult peeking around the corner at me.

One of the Red-headed Woodpecker juveniles here.

I kind of bombed out trying to find the Red-headed Woodpecker's nest this summer, but they're sharing a lot of viewing time for us while they're out and about...even recently got a photo of one of the juveniles that was reared here this summer!

 

Dawn - early light in SE O'Brien County.

I did get a nice request for another article for the Wildflower Wednesday offering through "Bleeding Heartland".  I finally had an excuse to get off the acreage, probably a good thing since its hard for me to do these past few years...getting old has some side effects I'm afraid. 

 

McCormack Area in SE O'Brien County.

I was asked to do an article on Hairy Four O'Clocks (Mirabilis albida) and needed some more images to write the article so ran down to the McCormack Area south of us, where I photographed some back in 2023.  The morning did not disappoint - it was drop dead gorgeous!

The article for Wildflower Wednesday was published a couple days ago at the following link...be sure and watch the video at the end...take in some sounds and sights of the morning there!

https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/07/23/iowa-wildflower-wednesday-hairy-four-oclock/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLwxclleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFwTXVlNEU4U0JJdWJMSG9FAR6Bln-NZ9q3cLLDzQhHdyo4DYooQ2tzfTD4Vfthwec04_dsI6A4WmiZneyvVQ_aem_8fAQUVwRmVQPm0v4CKTZmA 

Time???!  Although the context was a bit different, I do believe that the Rolling Stones got it terribly wrong - "Oh, time, time, time is on my side, yes it is"...I wish it were true for all of us!

Take care out there and please be good to one another - we are all in this together. 

 

June is "Dickcissel Month"...Just Say'n

 

(color pencil drawing - ©Bruce A. Morrison)

I got an idea last summer, reveling in all the Dickcissels living along our road and pastures. Nothing deep or serious mind you...and selfishly - something just for my own fun. I have to keep reminding myself - if you aren't having fun, then knock off what your doing and get to it...life is too short! 

 

I don't exactly recall why or how I came to this idea? Maybe it was all the perseverance these birds were being educated to each day - forming and raising families...staking their territorial claims and announcing that every day...all day long. Its really quite something to see and hear throughout the summer months.

 

I decided to just have fun and dedicate this artwork to them...all the graduates of Prairie Hill Farm - Class of '22. They wouldn't all pose for their class pictures but I got a few of them...mostly the guys of course, but a couple girls showed up as well.

 

Making this reminiscent of an old country school class composite did present some issues for me.  Color pencil is not a good tool for lettering nor graphics...I almost gave up the silly idea half way through, even before getting to the birds. I should've farmed that part off to someone who is actually "Good" at lettering and calligraphy...like our Daughter-in-Law Amy, she's a "Natural" at design and lettering - just look around our house!

 

The birds were fun - as was the central image representing their "school grounds"...putting everyone in a oval was "not" fun...not an easy shape constraint for my tired eyes and hands.

 

But here's to the "Prairie Hill Farm Summer Academy - Dickcissel Class of '22" - of whom many graduates returned this year and every year, to school their young and bring them up to be proud little Dickie Birds (as someone once called them)!!!

 

(color pencil drawing - ©Bruce A. Morrison)

 

I decided to declare June as "Dickcissel Month", in honor of these little birds and the memory they leave behind after they head south at summer's end.   I still have a glimmer of a seed to sprout a more serious Dickcissel piece someday...maybe a painting, who knows?

 

But I still remind myself not to take things too seriously, and have fun in the moment!

 

Be good to one another out there - we truly need each other.

Rekindled...

"In the Wild Plum - Nashville Warbler"

oil painting on canvas - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

I was having one of those days last spring where I was in a funk of some sort, and Georgie came into the studio and said the plums were full of warblers and "Why didn't I get outside and take some warbler pictures!"

To make a long story short I gabbed a chair and sat under the plum across from the studio deck and photographed these little, almost hyper warblers catching tiny insects pollinating the profusion of blooms...come to think of it, I may have even blogged about it.

I had been working on other things at the time but while going through the files of warbler shots one caught my eye - a male Nashville Warbler "on the hunt"...the camera caught the small fly and the warbler's posture about to spring and catch it's prey...the photograph was "OK" but it needed something - I knew it needed painting.

Finally, in mid June I got around to stating the idea of this painting...I began by laying in the entire background of out-of-focus and blowing branches, trying to create some kind of movement of color and shapes.  A couple of days into the piece I felt I did have something I needed to finish.

My Dad had just taken ill and I wanted to make a trip to see him, so I broke loose from the studio and headed to Ft Dodge - it had been raining A LOT and on the way I was detoured twice by water flowing over the county black tops I drove...it delayed me and when I arrived I found my siblings there at Dad's side; he was unconscious and slipping away.  

We spent the day together there in our Father's room, trying to stay calm and together; later that night Dad left us as I was talking to him.

My Father had always supported my work...I keep a note he wrote me a few years ago, here on my studio desk...sometimes it makes me smile, sometimes cry...its signed "your proud Dad".  He liked being a part of my artwork in earlier years, when I was obsessed with drawing, silk screening, photographing and painting birds...even  surprising me by showing up at "Birds in Art" exhibitions I was accepted into, at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, WI.  He always asked what I was up to in later years.

I was hoping to show him my latest painting, it is more reminiscent of those early passions I fed off of...I think he would have liked it.

It wasn't easy picking this back up after Dad's passing...it was weeks before I finally kicked the stool out from under myself and finally got in front of the easel again; but even then my progress has been less than stellar. 

I feel a rekindling of sorts now.  Its hard to explain.  Have I come full circle?  I don't know, but I've got too many things in my head now - I'd better get busy before they disappear! 

 

That's More Like It!

 Our Spring Birds! 

(composite - color pencil drawings)

© Bruce A. Morrison

click on image for a larger view

Wow, its just been over a month since my last blog entry and I have to say "That's more like it!"  We had snow every week in April here with a couple blizzards and weeks with more than one storm - we're finally out of the snow!

And once the snow stopped, our favorite birds started pouring in and making an appearance!  Some will be leaving soon on their migration further north but the majority will be staying the summer or are our year-round friends.  Got to LOVE the Birds!

"The Forgotten Bale"

oil panting - © Bruce A. Morrison
click on image for a larger view

I have also been painting in the studio but it has gotten very hard now that the sun is shinning and the birds are singing.  This painting is a little different for me, its a late autumn scene and the leaves are done turning yet the native grasses on the hillside are still quite vibrant yellow with hints of orange.  The lighting is flat and contrasty with the late afternoon fall sun.  The fields have been mowed with stubble still affording the wildlife some cover and forage; and a bale lies forgotten before the winter's first snow arrives.

I need to switch gears and get back to the greens of spring and summer ahead!

Ya this is more like it!

Waterman BCA Public Meeting!

The Waterman Prairie area of SE O'Brien County

is know for its diverse birds throughout the seasons,

like this Merlin (prairie form), a falcon that 

visits there during winter months.

There is always one area near us that Georgie and I go when looking for unusual, or not-so-common birds, and that is the Waterman Prairie complex south of the studio.

This is one place we can count on in the winter for Bald and (yes) Golden Eagles. And when we get stir crazy for our spring and summer bird friends in the dead of winter - Eastern Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings and American Robins are found there... but these are just the tip of the iceberg.  This area is well know for its grassland "obligates" - birds that are grassland dependent for nesting and foraging, as well as birds frequenting a savanna habitat.

It has been long known that this is a special area for birds and a recognition process for important areas like this has been in the works for some time now - concerning the Waterman Prairie complex area, there will be a Bird Conservation Area public meeting this coming Thursday evening at the Prairie Heritage Center.

Major benefits of a BCA would be opening doors to grants and/or cost-share programs that are only available to designated Bird Conservation Areas.  The BCA program is a worldwide program, so could bring additional habitat restoration or preservation dollars.  A positive side benefit by having a designated conservation area is it may increase the likelihood of local landowners getting into Farm Bill wildlife programs.

Whether you're interested in birds or "birding", or also appreciate the natural heritage of this small prairie gem we have way out here in SE O'Brien County - you might be interested in attending this public meeting and learning more how it may potentially benefit the area's resources.

The November 13 (Thursday) meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the O'Brien County Prairie Heritage Center located about 4.5 miles southeast of Sutherland - from Hwy 10 go 1 mile north on Yellow Avenue.

If approved, this area will be the first Bird Conservation Area within O'Brien, Clay, Buena Vista, and Cherokee counties.

Be a part of something that supports your natural heritage!

All Things Avian

Blue Jay with sunflower seeds

photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

Its National Bird Day today!  I didn't know they had one of those but think its a great idea!  As I mentioned in a recent blog, I love feeding the birds and bringing them closer to view.  I suppose I started feeding them for that selfish reason alone!  I just glanced over my left shoulder at the two feeders full of birds right outside the studio window as I type!

I've been asked what my favorite bird is...I don't have a good answer I'm afraid.  I guess whatever bird I am watching at any given moment!  I do have a spot of admiration for Jays and Crows though...they are very intelligent and have an immensely interesting character.  I've written about Blue Jays before...many people dislike them because they're bullies or rob nests.  Well, get over it!  Besides, I have seen many other bird species destroy the nests of others...I'm not a bird so I can only make suppositions why.  Maybe its because they're trying to encourage more opportunities for their own young, less competition and all?  Who knows?  But get over it...Blue Jays are just as cool as the next bird, just maybe a bit smarter :)

One of the terms for a flock of Blue Jays is a "party"...I like that!  Sounds like a fun group to me!  The other term I know of for a flock of Blue Jays is a "riot"...well, I do think they're a riot to watch! 

Happy Bird Day everybody!