My Sunday Photo... Sparrowhawk

We have had an amazing amount and variety of wildlife visiting us during this past week, as this wintery blast clings unrelentingly. 

Day four of an Arctic wind whips through like a freight train.

The bird feeders and bird bath need daily attention and are definitely saving little feathered lives.

But with all of this activity there's a witness who is also hungry!

The Sparrowhawk

 He usually is extremely swift, swooping in on his unexpected prey... with amazing aerobic flight stunts.

Sometimes, all you see is a quick flash of grey as he zooms past on his mission... gliding just a few feet off the ground. 

The silent killer.

He's always aware of any movement especially when I grab my camera. 

Those piercing eyes miss nothing!

I desperately wanted him to turn around to show his plumage, but he just wasn't wanting to play. 

He had other more pressing things on his mind.

Thankfully, I haven't actually witnessed a kill... only the debris of scattered feathers.

I know he will be a regular visitor with such an amount of prey located in one area.

Nope still not turning around. 

He's like an owl with his swivelling head turning at least 110 degrees.

It's so unusual to have him stay for more than a few minutes.... but then off he goes towards the woods, in pursuit of more prey. 

Hopefully he'll be successful there.

... and for anyone who isn't in to birds or needing a boost of colour...

Here's some very brave crocus.

I'm off to join in My Sunday Photo linkup with Photalife.

Have a great Sunday and stay cosy if the Mini beast from the east has returned to your place.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon.

Sketchy Faces... in more ways than one - PPF

Hello everyone... I'm here today to give you a little laugh.

As part of the Paint Party Friday linkup, I thought I'd share some of my sketches from my makeartthatsells practice assignment - Faces!

I, like many other artists grow pale at the thought of having to sketch a portrait... be it fictional or real life, but I took a deep breath and decided to jump right in and have fun with it! 

I was going to give you three guesses as to who I drew, but I think that's a little tough. 

I should give you 33 guesses and then you might actually get there.

But it was fun and I really enjoyed it.

One of the many pearls of wisedom that Lilla Rogers suggests to overcome the fear of portraits is to draw people as you watch tv. 

With that in mind, last week was a really sporty weekend in this household, so as one after another of the rugby and football matches played out on tv I sketched away.

I couldn't believe what fun this could be. 

Here's some of the results...

... I was so surprised that with each face the fear seemed to disappear a little more.

So I'm holding on to that saying "Feel the fear, but do it anyway"

Lastly, I decided that I couldn't resist sketching our lovely amazingly talented Lilla.

I hope she won't be too offended!

Have fun everyone and I'll see you again soon

I'm off to the PPF birthday party as they are seven years old this week!

Thank you Eva and Kristin for continuing to host this great inspirational link.

Click here if you'd like join me over there