Painting and Birding 'round the Long Island Sound

I'm refering, of course, to a bird.  A grebe, in fact.  A Red-necked Grebe, an uncommon winter visitor in these parts.  Not as rare as a Fork-tailed Flycatcher or a Lapwing (which have been making headlines in Connecticut lately), but rare enough that I had never before seen one. The process of making a certain identification was not immediate, however, and the scrutiny required not only bagged me a life bird but gave me grist for the art-mill.

I first noted an unusually dark, long-necked grebe in Greenwich Harbor on December 10th, but it was remote and in the sun,  so I had to leave it unidentified.  I got it again on the 14th, last Tuesday, and this time it was closer, though still in the sun.  The features I had previously noted were clear, and other details resolved themselves;  the long bill which showed a hint of yellow when it turned, the all-dark head bordered behind and below by a pale crescent, and the slender, dark neck, none of which seemed right for the usual saltwater grebe of these parts, the Horned Grebe.  It also seemed larger than a Horned Grebe, though that was a subjective judgement as I had nothing to compare it to.  Though it was freezing and my fingers numb, I did a few sketches and took some notes. 

All the clues were pointing to Red-Necked Grebe.  This would be a life-bird for me.  I went back the next morning with a camera.  It was still there and I took a pile of digiscoped photographs.  I don't have a real digiscoping setup, so most of them were horrible; this was the best I got. 

I knew I could trust my eyes and my sketches better, but sadly, in order to prove my identification to others, my sketches would probably not be enough.  I needed a photograph.  Here's a close-up:

Reminds me of the famous "Surgeons Photograph"

of the Loch Ness Monster... only this one's not a

fake!

 Note the dark head, long bill, and pale patch behind the head.  (That red coloration on the neck was not visible in life;  probably an artifact of refraction caused by imperfect focus and sharpening of the image in post-production.)

Because it was not a bird I am familiar with, I sought the advice of other birders who were.  Two birders agreed with my identification based on the photo and my description, and another who went to see the bird in person was fortunate enough to add another identifying characteristic-- size.  She found  it interacting with some Bufflehead Ducks, and the grebe appeared noticeably larger in comparison, whereas a Horned Grebe would have been about the same size as the ducks.  

I am not a birder obsessed with his "life-list", counting every species I've ever seen.  I'm far more interested in quality over quantity; because I come to birding as an artist, it's much more useful for me to get a good long look at a bird, preferably with sketchbook and pencil in hand, than a fleeting, distant glimpse of a rarity.  There is excitement in finding a rarity, sure, but too often there is too little time to actually look at anything but a few key field marks.  I can tick these birds off a list but I don't feel that I really know them; I certainly could never paint them with any conviction.  As someone who has always understood the world through drawing, the observation means so much more when I can take the time to sketch.  Not only will I know this bird instantly when I see it again, but I have an emotional connection that is such an important aspect in the creation of art.

"Lost in the Light" 2010, Sean Murtha

This watercolor was drawn directly from one of my sketches (above) and is more about the difficult conditions in which I observed it than a field-guide depiction; the experience of a bird rather than the bird itself.