In All His Glory

The Gentle Light of Peace

AVOCETS Tempera, 11" x 16" From the Collection of Mrs. Larry Toschik RUDDY DUCKS Watercolor and Tempera, 8" x 10" The Gallery Wall, Phoenix, Arizona

Southward On

SHOVELLERS Tempera, 9" x 12" Gallery Americana, Carmel, California Grass, moss and down-lined hollow in the grassy border of a small lake.

Vary from light buff, creamy white to pale pink (4-7). At one time fairly abundant on the western habitat but rare in the east.

This goose found its place in history in 390 B.c. when a sacred flock warned the Romans of a night attack by the Gauls. To commemorate the Roman victory a golden symbol of this goose was carried in a yearly procession.

During World War II enemy air attacks in England were detected by domestic flocks long before human hearing could pick up the sound of aircraft.

White-fronted Geese are among the earliest migrants in autumn and can be found on their wintering grounds in early September.

GREATER YELLOWLEGS PAGE 31

Winters Southerly United States, West Indies to upper South America.

Breeds From Newfoundland west across Canada to Cook Inlet, Alaska, south through British Columbia, the Prairie Provinces and to Nova Scotia.

Habitat Borders of shallow fresh and salt waters, mud flats, and occasional pastures and dunes.

Slight hollow lined with dry vegetation, near water.

Buff to greenish browns, blotched with darker red brown and ashy grey (4).

Flocks of ten or twelve birds wheel gracefully in flight then drop swiftly to a scattered landing. Being wary they cry alarm at the first sight of an intruder and cause other shorebirds to flush. For this reason it is also called a "tattier."

They search for their food in shallow water walking in line, abreast, driving small fish, tadpoles, and crustaceans before them trapping them in small pools where they feed with snatching action and a lot of small talk.

Shorebirds in general lend a distinct wildness and beauty to the wetlands scene.

GREENWING TEAL PAGE 32

Winters From British Columbia easterly in a south curving line to the coastal regions of the Carolinas and south to across the western states full into Mexico to Central America.

Breeds From most of Alaska south into the northwestern states, cast to the Mississippi River and north to the Arctic Circle.

Habitat Inland sloughs, marshes and streams and often on land far from water.

A hollow in the ground lined with grasses, weeds, leaves and down, occasionally far from water.

Dull white, olive or creamy (10-12). The smallest of our ducks and to some, the most beautiful. It is an exceptionally well proportioned bird and very speedy in flight. They fly in tight bunchy flocks and are capable of swift and abrupt more often when I saw the radiant after-glow on her face after our outing.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is increasingly engaged in wildlife restoration projects. Of importance is the current undertaking to reestablish the Mexican duck in its historic range. In southern Arizona, an expansive, marshy grassland is beginning to show good results for this rare bird. This habitat, now under control of the Department, is an important wintering ground for many waterfowl, shorebirds and waders. Sandhill cranes, rejoicing in this beautiful place, sound their royal trumpeting through the sun-shot cubic miles of air. These stately birds are making a firm comeback under wise management. The Sandhill crane is not huntable in Arizona: hunter money utilized for the benefit of Sandhills does not grant hunting permission. So, until the crane population becomes top heavy enough to permit controlled harvesting, the bird has complete protection. And even this may not happen in Arizona as the loss of other habitat is increasing too fast.

Their embellishment to the fall scene is so great and melodious, that many an empty duck day was made worthwhile by flights of Sandhills calling across the miles. The painting on pages 26-27 is a tribute to their regality.

The major movement of ducks and geese through Arizona coincides with the close of the hunting season. This time also marks the beginning of full plumage development in most species of ducks. The males go through a complete change of wardrobe each year. In late summer, their protective Coloration is a fair to shabby imitation of the hens. As the season progresses, through the winter they start to spruce up for the great spring mating hoedown. Each species has its own dress schedule, but for the most part by February the males are looking pretty ducky.

One splendid Arizona morning in early April, the sky was so beautiful, the sun so bright, the air so purely soft, that every cell in my body said, "Let's play hookey" Instead of banging around in the studio, I grabbed my wife, Ceil's, hand, and bags of cameras and headed west to the farm ponds that my sons, Bob, Mark and Tom, and I have known for a long time. Guided there in years past by my good friend, Larry Derksen, with his boys, Dan, Pat, Mark, Tim and Larry, we watched our sons grow up into manhood as they came to grips with freezing dawns and glorious days.

Ceil had never been to these ponds, although she cooked many a memorable meal from the harvest they provided. Now she was excited to see this side of the picture. After almost 60 miles of highway behind us, we turned down the dusty lane that led to the marginal bottom land where irrigation runoff water formed three ponds: the mesquite-hedged corner pond in the northeast meadow, the open "L" pond on the south central fence line, and the hidden pond to the west in a thick jungle of giant mesquite and salt cedar.

Our fine sons had literally grown up in the Octobers of their young lives around these productive waters. They'll remember all their days the pungent perfume of salt cedar on the dark frosty maneuvers, twisting and turning as one bird. A trip afield in the fall will generally be rewarded by the sighting of these birds when no other ducks are around.

WILSON'S SNIPE (COMMON) PAGE 32

Winters Southern British Columbia, Idaho, Montana and Nebraska south.

Breeds Northwestern Alaska, northern Yukon, northern Mackenzie south to eastern California, central to eastern Arizona, southern to central Colorado and western Nebraska.

Habitat Fresh marshes, irrigation ditches, streamsides, bogs and wet meadows.

Nest Grass-lined hollow in wet meadow or marsh.

Eggs Spotted olive-brown (4).

Snipe hunting has resulted in many a young boy being left out in the night with gunny sack in hand and a light shining in the bag to attract the birds. To my knowledge the common or Wilson's Snipe has never been trapped in this manner. For protection the bird crouches and freezes in the low growing vegetation as it feeds in the soft mud of marshes or bogs. The brown and white streaked head and back blend perfectly with the background. When almost stepped on the rapid zigzag flight makes it an elusive target. Remarkable as it may seem, the tip end of the long slender bill can be opened arid closed to capture insects deep below the mud. It has also been suggested that the tip may contain nerve endings sensitive enough to detect the soft bodies of worms and other food items.

AMERICAN EGRET (COMMON) PAGE 35

Winters Southeastern Oregon, central Nevada, central Arizona, central New Mexico. Casually north to Washington, Alberta, southern Saskatchewan.

Breeds Southeastern Oregon, western Nevada, California, western Arizona, southern New Mexico. Casually in southern Idaho and Montana.

Habitat Marshes, irrigated lands, ponds, shores and mudflats.

Nest Platform of sticks in large trees, dead brush over water, or in tule marsh; in colony.

Eggs Pale blue (3-5).

The Common or American Egret is a large bird which stands about two and a half feet tall. Egrets are solitary except in the breeding season when they nest in colonies. In the spring, prior to the breeding season, long plumes or aigrettes develop as part of the pre-nuptial plumage. These aigrettes were highly sought after in the 19th century millinery feather trade. One of the early achievements of the Audubon Society was to obtain full protection for the birds.

The Common Egret has black legs and feet while the Snowy Egret is smaller and has yellow legs and feet.

AMERICAN AVOCET PAGE 39

Winters North-central California and southern Texas south to Baja Pre-dawns and the full blaze of golden glory of sunrises through the autumn-bronzed foliage. They'll recall the thrill of swift duck flight and the many days of no birds at all, of acrobating avocets, of teal and Canada geese, mallards and pintails. They now have a reverence and love of the land that will be with them for all their lives.

This trip, then, had a special meaning to Ceil as we stalked the footsteps of earlier forays along the same routes. But today was one of those days ripe with promise but empty waters. We scouted the corner pond first, then the "L" pond. Nothing. Then I sent her on alone west to the hidden pond while I shot some movie footage of song birds flitting along the "L" pond shoreline.

An explosive roar startled me. So silent had been Ceil's approach to the hidden pond that she came up to the water's edge to stare face-to-face with a tight bunch of cinnamon teal. After they got over their surprise, they remembered what ducks were supposed to do, and they erupted off the pond and sped away.

She was thrilled with the encounter. Not only had she seen her first ducks in the wild, but the most beautiful of their kind.

I called and cautioned her to stay under cover and ran to be there. Within moments, the flight returned, hissing softly overhead, circled once and piled in for a landing. My camera sounds sent them up. Once again they climbed high and took off across the thickets. We waited awhile and returned back to the "L" pond. To our surprise, the flight came back, made one swift pass over the "L" pond, then circled, set their wings and swept in, pinions whistling, to land in the long leg of the pond. I captured the whole thing in slow motion on 16 mm film, and from that the painting on pages 18-19 came into being. The time of day and the setting is changed, but of the teal shown, these are as they were.

This farm has changed hands, and the new owners have knocked down much of the growth around the ponds and sternly posted the area. It's off limits now, and how I ached over the years to be able to afford to own that run-off acreage to keep for waterfowl, But nothing can take away the marvelous experience of having known that place for 10 to 12 years, and I've made numerous paint-ings and sketches of that beautiful land with still more to come.

Because there are no natural history museums of any great size or any readily available to the Phoenix area, research on waterfowl and shorebirds is hard to come by. Along with my own small collection of study skins, the resources that Dr. Robert D. Ohmart from Arizona State University can tap for me and the valuable collection of taxidermist Bob Hancock are the prime source of research available to authenticate wildlife paintings.

Occasionally I'm fortunate to have live specimens to study or not so fortunate, depending upon how you look at it. For years, Ceil had looked forward to preparing a Christmas dinner of wildfowl. In a bawdy kind of way, a very dear friend had promised her a Christmas goose. She was at last presented with a live, wild Canada goose found