Crisp air, warm sunshine, vivid blue skies and blossoms all around…who can resist being outdoors? My dogs and I walk in a huge park only a stone’s throw away from our home nearly every evening as weather allows. But our recent weather is what we really wait all year for.

The nearby park that we enjoy so much is truly wild as far as the echo system goes. Because hunting is not permitted inside city limits, the animals enjoy a much more relaxed life style than those in the country can. A whitetail doe takes a peek at me as my dogs and I stroll by. The deer here actually know me and my dogs and we can often get almost within spitting distance of them. Because I live in the woods, my dogs are quite used to wild animals of all kinds. Deer are frankly a bit boring to them now…”oh, THOSE again…” So the dogs pay them no mind. All wild animals are masters at reading the energy and intent of others. They seem to know that my dogs and I are harmless and often barely lift their heads to watch as we stroll by.

Redbuds reflecting on a pond…

Wager and Kip pose in front of a backdrop of Redbuds.

I enjoy winter. Well I might correct that statement with “I USUALLY enjoy winter.” Over the past decade and a half winters in eastern Kansas have become mild to say the least, confirming the whole global warming thing, (not that it ever needed to be confirmed to me). Just when we were all getting used to the idea of lots of sunshine and mild winter temps, Mother Nature had other ideas. The winter of 07-08 has been COLD and LOOOONG. Winter seemed to simply refuse the release of it’s grip…well until about 5 days ago that is.

With rain coming down in rumbling torrents and an occasional glimpse of the sun, the world is going green, and going green in a hurry.

There are many things that are living icons of spring but two of them enjoy unusually loyal notoriety. One is the tulip and the other the robin. Just to confirm that winter is FINALLY over and Mr Springtime has come at long last, I’ve included a photo of each here. What a nice way to lift one’s spirits out of the winter dull drums…

Are these tulips mine you ask?…not a chance. I have never been able to grow the darned things (squirrels digging them up don’t increase the odds) . These belong to a neighbor. The squirrels in our neighbor’s yards must be really lazy or they have all come to some kind of strange agreement or something…

This little gal is feeding her recent hatchlings. She and her mate diligently tend to these babies all through the day. Songbirds are very devoted parents.

Here, only about four days later, the babies have more than tripled in size. Their eyes are now open and fuzz has formed on their tiny heads. Baby birds literally are “eating machines.” The parents poke insects all the way down into the little birdie’s stomachs. They can’t even swallow on their own at this point. Believe it or not, these babies will fledge in a little more than a week from when this photo was taken. That is why such rapid growth is necessary.

Just three days later than the photo above, the baby robins (below) are now huge and have developed wing feathers and the orange breast feathers for which this species is most known. This brood started out with four babies. It is now down to three and those three barely fit into the nest.

Three days later than the photo above, the baby birdies now really look like robins. There are still three of them, and they are jammed into that nest. They are stretching their wings and even starting to flap them. Because they are ready to fledge, I didn’t visit them again after this. When baby birds are just past this point, a visit from me could send them out of the nest a bit earlier than what is best for them. Most likely, they left the nest the very next morning.

Meanwhile, only yards away under the nest this Northern Water snake basks in the long awaited sunshine. Water snakes usually dine on frogs, lizards and fish. But they do occasionally make a meal out of small birds. Luckily the robin parents are very discrete about approaching their nest. After all, you never know who might be watching…

People sometimes ask me about my creative process and how I paint. I have included below, a painting in progress, showing different stages of the piece as it develops.

Every painting first starts with an idea. I decide before I begin what I am going to say with the painting and what mood I want to invoke. One of the things that I most love about being a wildlife painter is getting to know my subjects. I want to know everything I can about them before I begin. This involves quite a lot of observation in the field, reading and sketching. When I feel that my understanding is complete enough to portray the animal, then I begin.

With this painting of a Pintail drake entitled “Morning Calm”, I wanted to invoke that “Zen” feeling you get when you sit on the shore of a calm lake or pond in early morning. There is not a sound to be heard except for maybe the rhythm of your own beating heart. To capture this feeling I decided to include only the bird and the soft ripples he leaves behind him. I’ve positioned the bird far to the left, almost like he is swimming out of the painting. This painting is as much about the subtle ripples as it is about the bird itself.

I start with a sketch. It is in this phase that the painting layout is decided. I transfer my sketch down on masonite. I’ve primed this board with an ivory color. This is an experiment. I like to “play” with my foundation colors.

In this first photo, I’ve blocked in some color, almost like a paint by number. At this point I’m making many decisions on color and value. I’m deciding what areas I want to “pop” and what areas are to remain subtle. There is no form or dimension in the painting at this point. Here the ivory base color is still showing on most of the duck.

Next, I begin to add more detail. I’m still blocking in color in the empty areas at this point too. I like to work an entire painting together. I build up detail gradually over the whole painting, making constant decisions as I go. My paintings are really ugly at this phase…

This next photo shows more detail still. I’m starting to lay washes of color into the water to show different plains as the water ripples. Detailing in the duck’s feathers is still moving along. Again, a really ugly phase of the painting…

The water is becoming more dimensional as darks are added behind the duck. I have started to give the duck itself more dimension by adding darker and lighter washes where they are needed.

This is the finished painting. I used purples and pinks throughout, as those are the magical colors of morning when the sun has recently risen. “Morning Calm” is complete….

April, May and early June are such interesting times here in eastern Kansas. Birds of all kinds migrate through here on their way to summer breeding areas far up north. You never know who may “drop in” even if only for a few days.

I am familiar with the songs of our local birds. When I hear something unfamiliar especially at this time of year, it warrants a closer look. In spring, the familiar becomes diluted with an assortment of strange sounds that ripple through the woods like waves of change.

For the past couple of days we had a visit from this little fellow and his small flock of “identical” friends. This is a Yellow-rumped Warbler (also known as the “Myrtle” Warbler). He has come all the way from Central America, perhaps as far south as Panama. He and his buddies will fly on tired wings until they reach Canada, where they will stay for the summer, until it is time to make this journey once again in reverse. Seeing this little guy here in east-central Kansas tells me that he has traveled for a very long distance. He has come so far…however… he still has a long, long way to go…

The Godsy household is home to furry masked bandits of two kinds. One kind lives in the great outdoors and is the absolute OBSESSION of the other, who lives indoors.

We have raccoons here in great numbers; big ones, little ones. We have all sizes. This little bandit scrambled up a tree just as a big storm was rolling in. The other little bandit, my dog Wager was about to pop outside of himself with excitement. To Wager, a raccoon is just about the most entertaining thing on the planet. He watches them through our windows for HOURS. The raccoons make for great “dog TV”!

This is our INDOOR bandit Wager, posing in our driveway…….would somebody please hand him a Kleenex?……