Things are going pretty alright here. I'm enjoying all the pine trees in VA and all the new birds. Right now what occupies most of my art time is doing work for Khimeros/Aluriya and I also have some outstanding commissions to finish up for Talin and Liz. In between all that I've been scribbling practice art.
So until I start feverishly trying to get work together for a new con, I'm afraid all you're going to see are my stupid doodles.
Commissions are closed








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* I grew up in the DC-VA-MD area and spent a few years in St. Louis, where I discovered how similar the two areas are in terms of weather. And now I live on the other side of the country and miss both those places.
I do have some space right next to a tiny wooded area and some feeders already out. I've seen some new birds and it's quite fine!
People complain about the midwest and/or humidity, but I like it and all the sweet greenery it produces. I couldn't live somewhere super dry.
Nice! Hopefully you'll get some entertaining migrants at the feeders soon. Alas, you'll never be able to escape the House Sparrows and Starlings.
The midwest has great crops and gorgeous fall colors. Hah, funny you should mention dry places: the place I moved to in CA is bone dry for about 6 months out of the year. It has taken some getting used to. I like it now, but the scenery is definitely more brown/yellow and the plants more sparse. And I had to buy a humidifier because my sinuses threw a protest.
Yeah? I've been looking for house sparrows and haven't seen a single one! In IL it was most of what I got. So I think that at least the sparrow to native ratio is much lower here. So far my tiny back yard has yielded amazing bird variety!
Is it southern Cali? East Cali? I drove all around there a few years ago. The mountains are cool but I hate hate hate the desert!
The number of HOSPs you get at your feeder will depend on your location. If you're in one of the heavily urban areas like my family's place, watch out. More rural or woodsy, you might escape them. You're most likely to spot them around shopping centers, I think. Despite the sparrows at my family's feeder, they still get some awesome native birds. Golden-crowned Kinglets were a yard highlight a few years ago.
Northern Cali! Central Valley (Sacramento area), so it's not pure desert. Gets brutally dry in the summer but rains almost all winter.
I live in suburbia. It's really not so different from where I lived in IL, which was brimming with house sparrows. So I dunno!
The two most exciting things I've seen so far was an osprey and a kingfisher (neither of them at the feeders, of course
Hmm, have I been through Sacramento? I think I have, but it was in the dark so I don't remember what it was like. Just very foggy. It was mid winter!
Huh! Interesting how house sparrow abundance can vary wildly by neighborhood. My family's place is right on the edge of DC, and their feeder always gets bombed by dozens of house sparrows.
Ospreys are so cool. If you spend time around the Potomac or other major rivers in the area, you may get to see the occasional cormorant too. Oh, Carolina wrens! I miss their little triple cadences... "teakettle teakettle teakettle" and "cheerily cheerily cheerily". The bird species between MO/IL and DC/MD/VA are pretty similar, as you noticed. Moving to CA was a much bigger shock to me wildlife-wise than when I moved from DC to MO. Suddenly, multiple species of hummingbird!
Foggy? Yep, sounds right for the Sacramento area in winter. Rainy, chilly, and foggy from November through January.
Yeah, it was early in the morning. I think a lot of people got a little freaked out about it. Well, I mean, we DID get a massive earthquake in the area that moved the Mississippi from right next to where I lived to STL. So it's a pretty big deal. Also with all those abandoned mines and things in the area, a midwest earthquake would be totally devastating.
I live pretty close to a big river. I plan to do some kayaking there. I do like cormorants! I'm so sad we haven't got any frigate birds this far north.
Yeah.. only one hummingbird here... sad!