Birds of Illinois

I have been birding for over 30 years. I started birding in Australia and have since traveled to many other countries. I am not a big lister but have many hundreds of bird species on my 'life list'. Several years ago I began taking photos of the birds I was seeing. Initially, this was largely to keep a collection of them but as the digital age came along, I was also able to share my sightings with other people via a blog.

In late 2006 I started to dabble with drawing the birds I had photographed. I found I wasn't too bad (in my humble opinion) and have since drawn many more of the birds I have photographed. I drew the Ruby-throated Hummingbird shown here in October 2007 and is one of my favorites.

It takes several hours to draw each bird but the drawing process is very therapeutic and has often given me a much better appreciation of the fine detail of structure and plumage. When drawing, I typically have the original image on the computer screen in front of me while I draw on heavy weight smooth Bristol paper.

I started this website in 2007 after I had worked for a couple of years with my blog. The website gives me more flexibility to add content and change the overall look and feel of the site. I have recently upgraded the software behind the website to improve performance.

Moving forward I hope to make this site more of a resource with photos and information about birds in Illinois. I always welcome feedback and hope you will take the time to drop me a note or comment on any of the articles.