Note Type
Artist's NoteNote
Artwork done for Van Dusen's Mass Audubon residency project.
Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary, Pittsfield
WAY OUT WEST September 28, 2016
Arriving at a new sanctuary, the first thing I do is make a quick circuit of the immediate vicinity, noting the location of the trailheads and perusing the visitor's kiosk that describes the property and features a large color map. At Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary, I am doing just that when I hear a shriek from the nearby bushes, and a hawk bursts out and sails away clutching a small bird. It happens so quickly that I can't identify either the hawk or its prey, but I know that late September is prime time for migrating raptors, and I'll likely see more before the day is over.
The view of West Pond from the meadow near the parking area is one of the nicest views on the property, so I set up to paint a landscape. The skies are overcast, which brings out the autumnal colors, and the suppressed contrasts lend a softness to the scene.
As I'm packing up to leave, a hawk flies in and lands in a big poplar across the pond, which immediately raises a clamor among the neighborhood crows. I train my scope on the bird and see that it's a Cooper's Hawk - a young bird (brown upperparts and fine streaking on the breast) with a lean, hungry look. It strikes me as impossibly elongated or stretched out - like a figure painted by El Greco!
The bird is driven off by the crows several times, but each time it returns to perch in the big poplar. It's that LEAN, HUNGRY look that I keep uppermost in mind as I develop its portrait.