For particulars about where and when and what to expect visit my earlier post here.

We left home at 5:30 and arrived at the West Union Covered Bridge at 7:30 as planned.  Several other folks had gathered to witness the eagles as they moved from their roosts to the Wabash River.

We saw about a dozen eagles rise above the ridge to the north and drop back behind the trees — loads of eagles, but none came too close.  At one point we were able to see eight in flight at one time.

The sun broke over the horizon.  The other birders had their eagle and got in their cars and left.  Ernie and I remained to shoot the bridge and the landscape in the marvelous mid-winter light. We were joined by a pair of nearly identical kittens from a nearby farm.  These little guys followed us the entire time (in fact one got in the car) and became the focus of many of our shots.

We left West Union following the Wabash to Montezuma.  We parked near the river and walked across the old iron bridge.  Mid-river I stopped and scanned the trees looking for birds and spotted a large bald eagle in the trees on river right.  We crossed the road and doubled back.

On the way home we made a quick stop at Turkey Run State Park and photographed a few birds around the Nature Center bird feeding station.  We walked into the woods and photographed ice, rocks and water.

On the drive home we came across a small flock of wild turkeys including some beautiful Toms.  Ernie hit the brakes and we backed just in time to see them disappear into the trees.

In Crawfordsville Ernie spotted another bald eagle flying right over the downtown buildings.  We followed it through a neighborhood and onto the Wabash College campus.  Ernie got a quick shot before it flew out of range.

Ernie an I spent a week together in New England in October of 2010 and really had a great adventure.  It was nice to be together and pick up where we left off.

Reblogged from 50 Little Birds:

Two years ago I joined a large group to see bald eagles in Western Indiana.  On a sub-zero winter dawn we gathered on a bridge and over the next hour we oberved about 50 bald eagles. Since then I’ve wanted to return to this spot.  As much as I enjoy the knowledge shared by a large group of birders, I enjoy being alone with my thoughts.  Yesterday I took the opportunity to revisit the spot (on a much warmer day) and I was able to spend some time with over twenty bald eagles. Indiana is the wintering …

I am taking my annual eagle watching trip this Saturday morning with my friend and amazing photographer, Ernie Mills. We’d love to see you on the bridge at about 7:30 Saturday morning!

Read article here.

See additional images here.

Traditional Arts Indiana’s first webinar of 2012 is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 26, from 4:30-5:30 p.m., and the event is going to be something of a hybrid. In addition to real-time (and free) digital access to the webinar at http://breeze.iu.edu/tai_webinars, there will be a live (and also free) component hosted at Indiana University’s Department of Folklore and Ethnomusiciology in Room 100 of 510 N. Fess Ave.

Our host for this event is Jon Kay, experienced musician, host of the noted Artisan Ancestors podcast, former director of the Florida Folk Festival, and current director of TAI.

Jon’s one-hour talk will focus on how folk, traditional, and ethnic musicians can develop their performance skills for performing at events and festivals beyond their home communities. In addition to developing workshops, one-sheets and stage-plots, he will discuss how traditional musicians can retool their performances for the audience outside their home communities.

Our hope is that the split-format webinar will cater to an existing base of interested parties across the state, as well as a core of local and regional folks who won’t mind making the short trip to see Jon in person. However you might choose to attend, this event is free and open to the public, as usual.

To join virtually: Access a computer with working speakers or headphones and navigate to http://breeze.iu.edu/tai_webinars on Thursday, Jan. 26, from 4:30 to about 5:30 p.m. Click here if you’d like to see a screenshot showing what exactly to do after navigating to the webinar site.

To attend in person: Arrive at 510 N. Fess Ave., Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, Indiana University, on Thursday, Jan. 26, before 4:25 p.m. Enter through the side door. Street parking is free in the evenings. There is also metered parking at the university-owned McCalla School, one block west of the department on Indiana Ave.

Afterwards, participants will be able to access a recording of the webinar to review or catch up on anything they may have missed. We hope to see you — or to “see” you — soon!

I recovered the frame on Sunday with no problems. I found that spraying the fabric with water made it flexible and forgiving.  On a previous protoype I had a problem when applying spray shellac.  Damp areas sagged and were set by the shellac.

In this trial I applied traditional linseed oil varnish.  I’m not sure if the varnish was old or it didn’t like the application, but the varnish never set hard.  I left it for two days with no improvement.

Out of frustration I tentatively painted a thin coat of latex over a small section.  After a few hours it set, in a rubbery latexy way, so I proceeded to paint the entire bird.

I checked things this morning an am please.  A terribly shot iPhone photo is seen, left.

I regret using red for an undercoat.  I typically undercoat my birds in a contrasting color.  Pale yellow works well with cardinals.  I plan to build up a few layers of undercoat and color tonight.

When this bird is complete I plan to move beyond the experimental stage and plan a project around this technique.  A meeting was cancelled at school this morning and a sketched a full size tundra swan profile on the board — 54″ long and 72″ wide.  That’ll be some bird!

I was wrong.

I finished my last work session applying a coat of spray shellac (ick) to the skin so that it would be ready to paint when I got back into the studio. I paid for my impatience.  I sprayed the fabric with water to shrink it.  I applied the shellac before the fabric was completely dry and the moist areas sagged badly.

Today I stretched on skin number three.  Rather that stretch it on dry I sprayed the fabric with water before I stretched and attached it.  I found a moist skin was much more forgiving and tightened nicely.  After the entire frame was covered I dried it thoroughly with a heat gun.

I wanted to avoid water based finishes.  I was worried that the sking would absorb the moisture and sag again.  Today I brushed on a coat of old-school linseed oil based varnish.  I love the smell of linseed oil.  It brings back memories of ancient antique stores (before the days of antique malls) and of my mother’s Pennsylvania Dutch decorative painting.  I applied the varnish six hours ago and it’s no drier than it was when applied.

While waiting for the varnish to dry I worked on the metal components of this northern cardinal.  I dipped the beak, mandible and crest in mueratic acid to remove the galvanizing (zinc) and to etch the surface to accept paint.  Out of the acid bath the parts are all bright and shny, but over the next few weeks, the unpainted parts will develop a beautiful patina.

When I was in middle school my father purchased a heating and cooling business.  In those days heating and cooling shops still had a full scale sheet metal shop.  I was assigned to this shop from the beginning (I was to learn the business — never did.) and cut my teeth making all kinds of interesting sheet metal things.  On my first say my mentor. Eddie Bryant, showed me his badges of honor — many missing fingers — and warned me not to ever try to catch metal that was falling off a bench.  Within a week I had slits across the legs of my jeans at the height of our benches from sheets hanging over the edges.

I pulled from these long lost skills to cut and form the beak, wings and tail for this cardinal.  I’m not quite sure how I pulled it off, but I am pleased with the results.  Using a piece of steel (actually I sacrificed a heavy steel ruler) a hammered at the lines between the feathers.  I was able to define the lines and shape the entire wing.

These parts have all been acid dipped and I hope to get them painted in the next day, or so.