Soaring Red Kite

A graceful red kite (Milvus milvus)in flight against a cloudy summer sky.

The English word “kite” is from the Old English “cyta” which is of unknown origin.

Red kites are generalist scavengers and predators. Their diet consists mainly of carrion,  large domestic animals such as sheep and pigs, roadkills, and shored fish. They also take small mammals such as mice, voles, shrews, stoats, young hares and rabbits.

The species is are native to the western Palearctic, with all of the currently known 32,200–37,700 breeding pairs being in Europe. Historically, the species  was only resident in the milder parts of its range in western Europe and northwestern Africa, whereas all or most red kites in northern mainland Europe wintered to the south and west, some also reaching western Asia, but an increasing number of northern birds now remain in that region year-round. Individual birds have been seen as far north as Finland and south to Israel, Libya and Gambia. Formerly also breeding in west Asia and northwest Africa breeding is now confined to Europe.

In the United Kingdom red kites have been known to steal food from people in a similar manner to gulls. One such occurrence took place in Marlow, Buckinghamshire (a town near a major reintroduction site for the species in the UK in the nearby village of Stokenchurch), in which Red Kites swooped down to steal sandwiches from people in one of the town’s parks.

Red kites were not popular because they are scavengers. Shakespeare’s King Lear describes his daughter Goneril as a detested kite, and he wrote “when the kite builds, look to your lesser linen” in reference to them stealing washing hung out to dry in the nesting season. In the mid-15th century, King James II of Scotland decreed that they should be “killed wherever possible”, but they remained protected in England and Wales for the next 100 years as they kept the streets free of carrion and rotting food. Under Tudor “vermin laws” many creatures were seen as competitors for the produce of the countryside and bounties were paid by the parish for their carcasses.

By the 20th century, the breeding population was restricted to a handful of pairs in South Wales, but recent conservation efforts have resulted growing populations in several areas.

A Soaring Red Kite

This image is available at one of my fiancée’s online stores.

Weathered Flying Moose Aviation Sign

A weathered wooden sign advertising the services of mythical Flying Moose Aviation of Talkeetna, Alaska. It features one of the company’s blue-and-yellow aircraft equipped with extra-large “tundra tires” for landing on rough terrain.

Flying Moose Aviation: Flightseeing, glacier landings, cargo, hunting and fishing charters. We fly, tell us where you want to go.

Weathered Flying Moose Aviation Sign

As usual, this image is available at one of my online stores.

Matanuska Moose Milk Logo

The new logo of world famous and entirely mythical Matanuska Moose Milk dairy farm in Willow Alaska; not too far from Anchorage, a humorous logo.

As usual you can find this image at one of my online stores.

Drink Moose Milk! It’s Good For You

Sockeye Salmon – Alaska Postage

The latest in my series of postage stamps of a notional independent Alaska.

Sockeye Salmon Postage Stamp

The sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), aka red salmon, is found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it.

Oncorhynchus is from the Greek ὄγκος (onkos) meaning “barb”, and ῥύγχος (rhynchos) meaning “snout”. Nerka is the Russian word for the anadromous form. The name “sockeye” is an anglicization of suk-kegh (sθə́qəy̓), its name in Halkomelem, the language of the indigenous people along the lower reaches of the Fraser River (one of British Columbia’s many native Coast Salish languages). Suk-kegh means “red fish”.

You will find this image on many products at my online store

Brick House In Bielefeld

I saw a nice brick house a few weeks ago in Bielefeld, Germany and thought it would be an interesting project to recreate it digitally.

Here is my original photo:

Red Brick House In Bielefeld

And my recreation. Click on the image for a full-sized view.

Still Life With Eagle

A rustic still life featuring a carved eagle I purchased in the Soviet Union many years ago with a few pine cones, a section of a pine branch, a sprig of needles and a few stones. The objects are resting on a caribou fur, a weathered wood beam wall serves as the background.

Click on image for a full-sized view:

A Rustic Still LIfe

How Raven Stole The Sun

Ravens are frequent characters in the legends of northern peoples around the world. In many cultures they are seen as tricksters, though often ultimately beneficial.

In some myths a Raven swallows the sun as it dips below the horizon, then flies eastward, all night, to the eastern horizon where he barfs it up; ensuring a new day.

In this tale from the Haida and Tlingit peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast of North America, a Raven is the reason the Universe is not eternally dark.

Raven Stealing The Sun

At the beginning of the world there was only darkness. Raven, who had existed from the beginning of time, was tired of groping about and bumping into things in the dark. One day Raven chanced upon the home of an old man who lived with his daughter. Raven, who was very sly, learned that the old man had a great treasure – all the light in the universe, contained in a tiny box concealed within many boxes. Raven vowed to steal the light. But how to get inside the house?

After thinking long and hard Raven devised a plan. He waited until the old man’s daughter came to the river to gather water. Then Raven changed himself into a single hemlock needle and dropped into the river, just as the girl was dipping her water-basket. As she drank from the basket, she swallowed the needle. It slipped and slithered down into her warm belly, where Raven transformed himself again, this time into a tiny human.

After sleeping and growing there for a very long time, Raven emerged into the world once more, this time as a human infant. Despite his strange appearance, Raven’s grandfather loved him. But the old man threatened dire punishment if he ever touched the precious treasure box. Nonetheless the Ravenchild begged and begged to be allowed to hold the light just for a moment.

One day the old man yielded, and lifted from the box a warm and glowing sphere, which he tossed to his grandson. As the light was moving toward him, the human child transformed into a gigantic black shadowy bird-form, wings spread ready for flight, and beak open in anticipation. As the beautiful ball of light reached him, Raven captured it in his beak! Moving his powerful wings, he burst through the smoke hole in the roof of the house, and escaped into the darkness with his stolen treasure.

And that is how light came into the universe.

Blenheim Palace Sheep

Sheep grazing on the grounds of Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire near Woodstock, in February of 2020.

Sheep Grazing At Blenheim Palace

It is the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough. The palace is notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill.

Approximately 1800 ewes live on the palace estate. Each year give birth to a total average of 2800 lambs. Blenheim’s sheep are known as Scotch mules and are a mix of blackface ewes and blueface Leicesters.

The grassland at the World Heritage Site provides ideal conditions for the extensive flock to graze throughout the year.

Two Birch Bark Baskets

Two birch bark baskets which I worked up as practice 3D modeling for the canoe project – especially the lacing, which is difficult to model, at least for me. Birch bark baskets come in many forms and styles. Sometimes the reddish inner bark shows on the outside as in the basket on the left; sometimes it is inside. The pattern on the left basket was adopted from an old pattern that I found on the Internet.

3D Rendering of Birch Bark Baskets

The Birch Bark Canoe Project – Episode III

The current state of the birch bark canoe project. The hull is now “made of”birch bark, with the inner bark surface showing. I also added ribs, liner and thwarts (cross pieces). It still needs some tinkering, which I do in my spare time. See this space for future updates.

Click on the image for a full-size view.