The Birdcassos is a first-of-its-kind Birdathon team for SCVAS—a team consisting of artists who work during a 4-hour window to draw or paint as many birds they can. Of course, it would be difficult to reach the species total achieved by non-drawing teams… Difficult… that sounds like a challenge. Anyway, when I proposed the idea, I expected us to meet at a previously agreed upon location and support each other as we drew as a team…. Then of course, that all changed two weeks ago when we realized we’d have to stay at least 6 feet apart.

So instead, we all went wherever we wanted. You can read where the other artists went below. But I chose to go local and arrived at Charleston Slough at 8:00. I scanned the Coast Casey Forebay and found numerous Shorebirds and Waterfowl so I set up immediately on my portable chair beside the pump house and began drawing. I worked fast because my goal was to create 50 drawings during the time allotted. It meant however, that my work would be coarse, and despite having prepared a selection colored pencil colors (including the whole library of cold and warm grays), I used only my trusty #2 pencil. Next I moved to Shoreline Lake, and finally, I made a dash for Palo Alto Badlands only to find that Embarcadero was closed before the water treatment facility. I parked and walked to the water before I returned home for lunch. I composed my favorite drawing in the last 10 before the deadline.

I had my target species for the day. I’d chosen them for their distinctive appearance which I felt would be easy to draw quickly. I struggled with the Swallows and other birds that never stopped moving, but some birds were more cooperative (relatively speaking) and proved easier to capture on paper. I found that despite my anxiety at working under pressure, I actually enjoyed working quickly—it forced me NOT to fuss about details I usually worry about. I did use my eraser a lot though, because I’m used to working from photographs (where the birds NEVER move). I particularly enjoyed some of the comparison drawings such as “black birds” in flight, the Aechmophorus Grebes and sleeping Ducks. It’s the instructor in me, I guess. The one portrait I did that approached an artistic composition was a pair of European Starlings on a phone pole. It was my favorite.

The most joyous moment however, was at Shoreline Lake when 7 BLACK SKIMMERS flew around the island. Two of them split off to engage in what I assume was a courtship flight display. They were “volplaning” which means “sky dancing” in Skimmer, and Swift language. It was breathtaking. And I wished the rest of my team had been there to see it with me.

It was a wonderful day, and I look forward to joining this team again next year, and hopefully we will get even more participants. I’m quite certain there’s an artist inside of all of us!

~ Matthew

Today's birdathon/sketchathon was quite memorable!

Shelter in place due to COVID-19 changed how we did things but nevertheless it did not stop me from sketching some 30 species of birds that I saw in my neighborhood.

I started at 8 am, sketching in our yard. Within the next 15 mins I had a Nuttall's woodpecker and an Oak Titmouse in our frontyard- I almost screamed in joy!!

I had to focus intensely on the face pattern of that Nuttall's.

To sketch and then paint..became a challenge as the birds starting pouring in!

I could only sketch the bird's face for most part in order to keep up with the birds I saw. I also sketched two Corvids (we dont talk about Covid)

I took a day off from work to relax and enjoy watching and sketching birds and to help raise funds for my Audubon chapter to educate and preserve habitat. What a win-win!!

~ Leena

Hello Team Birdcassos!

For the Sketchathon, I came up with a two-part strategy: Part 1: bird the neighborhood and local park, photographing birds along the way. Part 2: Draw as many birds as I can based on the photos I took. Turns out four hours is not nearly long enough!

Part 1 went great. I saw twenty species and photographed the majority of them. The highlight was seeing a pair of Cooper’s Hawks together in the same tree at Ponderosa Park. Having them pose side-by-side really points out the size difference between the male and female. I also had nice poses from a Yellow-rumped Warbler, lots of Black Phoebes in different parts of the park and an Oak Titmouse. You can see my ebird checklists with photos here:

Neighborhood birding: https://ebird.org/checklist/S66497110
Ponderosa Park birding: https://ebird.org/checklist/S66497139

My art/yoga studio (aka the living room)

For Part 2 I settled indoors and got to work drawing. This didn’t go quite as well as Part 1, since I only had an hour and a half left to draw as many birds as possible. I used my iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and an app called Procreate to make drawings of Western Bluebird, Black Phoebe, Oak Titmouse, Yellow-rumped Warbler and the pair of Cooper’s Hawks. Then the clock ran out, so I didn’t get a chance to refine them or color them. There were lots of photos that I was still hoping to use for inspiration: a Townsend’s Warbler peeking out from the leaves of a sycamore, a California Gull screaming mid-flight, a Mourning Dove taking off, etc. Overall though it was a great learning experience and I’d love to do it again. And next time I’ll spend less time birding and more time drawing!

~ Barry

I was up bright and early on April 1st to eat and then drive to Alviso for the first part of my Birdcassos bird-a-thon. My plan was to visit a few of the Alviso birding hotspots and draw what I could, while sitting well-isolated in my car. The front seat was my workbench: binoculars on the center console, colored pencils in the cup holders. And the steering wheel a handy table for my sketchpad. The birds were there and waiting for me. Large numbers of American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts filled the shallow waters near State St. and Spreckles Ave. Nearby fields and residential areas were filled with song. There were more birds species than I could draw so I rushed to choose a bird that would be in view for a couple of quick looks and then focused on my drawing. The time flew by. A short walk to Mallard Slough near the Don Edwards Environmental Education Center yielded 5 species of duck and a lovely treat—a here-then-gone Common Gallinule. Darting Barn Swallows overhead were the first ones I had seen this season, newly arrived from southern lands. Then it was back home for a quick viewing of my familiar backyard buddies before the clock struck 12 noon.

~ Mary Ann

The Birdcassos Birdathon Art Book

Artwork from the Birdcassos will be bound into a single pdf book containing the stories, photos and all of the sketches, paintings and drawings created by the artists during the 4-hour window. The team created 100 drawings of 76 different bird species.

Anyone who donates $100 or more toward our team will receive an advance copy.

Sponsor the Birdcassos

We hope more of you will join The Birdcassos team next year. Each one of us has an artist inside, just waiting for an invitation to create!