Black Skimmer chick Carving 102

The Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) is a common bird in coastal areas of Florida. These birds are often seen at beaches resting on the shoreline with other terns and gulls, or skimming the water with their long lower bill. They nest on sandy beaches and create a small depression in the sand to lay their eggs.  The eggs, usually 2-4, are cream colored and have various shades of dark spots on them, making them difficult to see on the sand.  The newly hatched chick is also quite camouflage in the sand.  An interesting fact that I've read from Sibley's Guide to Bird Life and Behavior is that these birds are the only bird, with a cat like eye, which is thought to help them see through the glaring of sunlight on the water. 

Here is my carving of a Black Skimmer chick.  Its carved to be life-sized of a recently hatched chick. They grow very fast into adult size birds; the parents only feed them for a month from hatching.  This bird was carved with basswood, painted with acrylic paint, and a german glass eye.  During the carving process I tried the feathering wood burning effect but I didn't like it. Something about wood-burning feather texture makes the birds look too rough to me, when birds look so soft and smooth. So I like to use painting effects instead. 

Black Skimmer chick / hatchling carving.

Carving #102. Carved in 2017

Black Skimmer chick / hatchling carving at Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, in Dania Beach, Florida. Im not aware if any Black Skimmers nest in Broward County though they can be seen occasionally at this beach.  In Florida, Black Skimmers are more common on the Eastern portion of the state - the Gulf Coast, Lake Okeechobee, and also around Cape Canaveral. 

A selections of bird magnets

Hello on this rainy spring day in South Florida!  Theres been a lot of showers and storms coming from the Caribbean and its a good day to be inside and working on projects. One of the things I work on besides from my bird carvings is making what I call "flats".  These are flat pieces of wood carved into a semi-relief sculpture of the bird it represents.  Once they are carved and painted, they can be framed, turned into magnets, pins, keychains, and other accessories.

Here are a few sets that were made into magnets:

Golden Yellow Warbler (Cuban ssp.) and Florida Prairie Warbler

These 2 birds were seen together in the mangrove forest of Key Largo.

A custom set of 4 warblers:  

Black-throated Blue Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Chesnut-sided Warbler, 

and Black-throated Green Warbler.  

A variety of birds from my summer collection last year. 

Ruddy Turnstone, Common Yellowthroat, Cooper's Hawk (a small male), 

Bobwhite (the darker Florida subspecies), Black Skimmer. 

:

Least and Pectoral Sandpipers

Today I just wanted to share two pictures from my Instagram account @pondcypressstudio.
The first on is of three Least Sandpipers and one Pectoral Sandpiper.  All were carved in 2015. Both photos were taken at the South Skyway Pier rest area, in Tampa Bay, FL.

A trio of Least Sandpipers in different positions.  All are standing on carved shells from native species. 

Pectoral Sandpiper.  Though these birds migrate through Florida but this particular bird I saw in Sitka , Alaska.  Its base is painted with the algae that was abundant on that coast but in this photo its being covered by a piece of drifting sea lettuce.