The Wanderer

I've been fortunate enough to visit several locations over the years where raptors are in the air just about every time you look up  - India, Isreal, Ethiopia to name a few. Oh how I'd like to spend the duration just sketching raptors and nowt else! This is still very much on my 'To Do' list. Until then I have to make do with the odd 'BOP' conveniently perching up. Even the upsurge in numbers of our commoner raptors like Common Buzzard doesn't offer that much of an opportunity, but then perhaps I should be a bit more disciplined.
A young Peregrine took time out from terrorizing the locals at Old Moor a couple of months ago, and I remember thinking shortly after I'd sketched it  how I'd render the intricately patterned underparts without flattening the bird. The note-taking paid off as I remember the buffy ground colour matched the dead vegetation in the foreground. My fist raptor in colour didn't turn out too badly, then.

                                        Study of young Peregrine, Old Moor, Feb 2014