On The Hill

One of my local upland patches, Hartcliff Hill near Penistone, gets the odd Ring Ouzel in spring. This April was exceptional, though, with 6 in one day. Being at c.370m ASL the site is invariably windy but on this day there was just the slightest breeze which, combined with the lovely spring sunshine , made this a particular day to savor! The party of birds, including 4 males, were favouring a recently cleared field and were rather confiding. If I can't sit down and really get into a bird by sketching it I tend not to bother, but these were just too showy to turn down! The old dry stone wall made for an interesting back-drop to the bird, and an idea for a pic was sown straightaway!
Drawn on Stonehenge paper, this, I hope, is another step in the right direction! It certainly evokes memories of that fine day.
Cheers
Russ

                                   Field sketches of Ring Ouzel, Hartcliff Hill, 22nd April 2015

A couple of quid, framed, if anyone's interested!