Chris is from Poole in Dorset but first started birding seriously at Durham University. Chris says of his work "I am self taught and my first attempts at drawing were pen & ink line drawings based on photographs of the rarities I'd just seen. I eventually plucked up the courage to try watercolours in the field 3 years ago and instantly found it much more enjoyable. With a young family I find the only free time I get for drawing is when I'm out birding and so I try and finish the paintings in the field."
Bohemian Waxwing (see above), Weymouth, Dorset
Sunday 28th January 2001
While watching Red-necked Grebes in Portland Harbour my pager reported a single Waxwing in Weymouth, only a mile or so up the road. I hurried off via Radipole Visitor Centre to get some directions. Only in invasion years do Waxwings reach Dorset and given the sketching opportunity I was anxious to see it. I turned the corner into Cobham Road and saw a group of birders up ahead, they were watching the Waxwing in the top of a bare tree. Over the next few minutes it flew back and forward into the neighbouring front gardens always within about 25 yards of us. I moved around to get the sun behind me and began sketching. The absence of yellow/white tips to the inner webs of the primaries meant that it was a 1st winter bird, probably female and there were two tiny red tips to the tertials on the right wing at least.
Cattle Egret, Greatham Bridge, West Sussex
Saturday 3rd February 2001
I arrived in the Greatham Bridge area but wasn't sure whether I was in exactly the right place. Just like when I first saw Cattle Egret in Britain in Worcestershire in 1993 I stumbled on it almost by accident. I passed an open gate on my right and there stood the small white Egret perched on top of a small haystack. When I got out of the car it flew down into the grassy field and began to feed actively often disappearing out of view beyond a ridge in the field. On one occasion it flew up onto a drinking trough allowing more sketches before flying across the road and landing even closer. In the weak winter sunlight the pink/orange flush to the crown, chest and mantle were obvious and confirmed the bird as an adult.
Green-winged Teal, Holes Bay, Poole Harbour
Sunday 4th February 2001
The Green-winged Teal which was found in Poole Harbour in early 2000 followed soon after the BOU decision to make the two races species in their own right. The bird was relocated again in early February 2001 and living within 1 mile of the site I grabbed my pencils and paints and headed off. I caught up with it on the Upton Country Park side of the Bay while it was sleeping on a sheltered bank. The absence of creamy lines round the green eye mask and the bold white vertical flank stripe were both obvious. After 20 minutes or so the North American vagrant woke up and began displaying to a female Common Teal.
Bearded Tit, Radipole, Dorset
Saturday 17th February 2001
The plan this morning was to see Eider in Portland Harbour, Black Redstart in Newton's Cove, Weymouth and then Bearded Tit at Radipole. This would bring the year list to 134. The Eiders showed immediately on the flat calm water of the Harbour, both were young males and at Newton's Cove a pair of Black Redstarts flitted around the rocks in the morning sunshine. At Radipole I had just expected to hear the Bearded Tits but was amazed to stumble upon a pair feeding carefully just 4 or 5 yards from me, they were completely unperturbed by my presence and they seemed so settled that I decided to run back to the car for my drawing stuff. Luckily they were still present when I returned giving me a rare drawing opportunity.
Black Redstart, Nothe Fort, Weymouth, Dorset
Thursday 22nd February 2001
Having seen Black Redstarts last Thursday I decided to return to Newton's Cove in Weymouth for another look and to try and draw one. I set up my scope and sat quietly overlooking the rocky coastline which had been the favoured area for the female. Over the next couple of hours I had several brief glimpses and managed to piece together a sketch. In the end I decided that the female was in fact a 1st winter male on the basis that the secondaries and lower tertial were very strongly edged white forming a noticeable wing panel.
Corn Bunting, Six Penny Handley Roundabout, Dorset
Sunday 25th February 2001
The roundabout at Six Penny Handley is one of the most reliable sites in Dorset for Corn Bunting. My first sighting was of one hanging upside down from a barbed wire fence, perhaps a Merlin victim. Pretty soon I had good views of live Buntings, there were 10 of them in amongst a flock of 200 Linnets, 30 Yellowhammers and 6 Skylarks (In years gone by the odd Tree Sparrow would have been likely but they are now just about extinct in Dorset) With the flock being so large they were constantly on the move but a couple of them paused long enough to sing and pose for a quick painting.
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