Title: Kohlmeise, 29cmx42cm, Watercolor
One of two regular visitors to my bird feeder in Vienna. (Today there were three of these flitting about. A rare party!). I think one of the reasons our city-bird population might be sparse is that we don’t have access to the gourmet grub like black oil sunflower seed that I’ve been hearing is on the menu in America, so we can’t bribe them away from the farms and fields of Burgenland and other rural areas nearby. On the other hand, I never tried a bird feeder in the city before the pandemic, so maybe this is as good as it gets.
This year I started a taste test with some regular sunflower seed from the grocery store which has been a pretty big hit with my two Kohlmeise customers so far — maybe word will catch on. Last summer I had a visit from two green finches! They never came back, but I got a passable photo. They are in the pipeline for future paintings. So far I have not been happy with earlier versions. The green finch is surprisingly tricky to catch on paper. Lots of color variation, uniquely shaped beak, excuses, excuses, etcetera.
The Kohlmeise is similar in size and coloring to the North American Chickadee. But I’m very amateurish with my ornithology so I will just say the song is different. Maybe I’ll paint a Chickadee next for comparison. Or maybe not. Suspense…