This weekend marks the end of the visitor season for the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale, Alberta. It’s a welcoming and beautiful facility home to many species of owls, hawks, eagles, and more.
Cofounded, owned and operated by Colin Weir since the early 1980s, the dedication it takes to keep this place going is remarkable and impressive. On days I feel sorry for myself for not having had a day off in weeks, I remind myself that people like Colin (and my friend Serena at Discovery Wildlife Park) go many months without a day off, and sometimes that’s only a sick day when they’re really ill.
Caring for animals is a calling, and these critters require constant care. When I expressed my admiration for his commitment, Colin humbly dismissed his efforts and likened it to farming, saying it’s a lifestyle more than a job.
Colin is on call 24/7 year-round to rescue birds from all over Alberta. Though he can’t always be there in person, he’s told me that sometimes people just need encouragement and advice, a supportive voice on the phone to help them do what they can for a bird in need.
While many adult birds they rescue are nursed back to health and released, it’s not so cut and dry for birds missing a wing or for the little ones. Some will never develop the skills to survive on their own, but they find a home at the centre.
Years ago, I painted a Golden Eagle named Sarah. I had taken the reference for the painting when I first met Colin and his daughter, Aimee, on their visit to Canmore with some of their birds for a wildlife event. Sarah has been with Colin since she was a year old, and I was delighted to see her again. She is still healthy and doing well at 42 years old.
From their website, “We do not receive any government operating subsidies, which means we rely solely on donations and volunteers to keep the birds fed and cared for year-round. One hundred percent of all donations we receive is spent on programs and projects that directly benefit the wildlife and wetland habitat we strive to conserve.”
I could go on at great length about their incredible work for wildlife conservation and rehabilitation, but I’d rather you visit their website as it does a much better job than I would.
The Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation is an official charity, and I’ve been supporting them with a monthly donation for several years, but I’ve only been to the centre three times. It’s a 4-hour drive, which usually means an overnight stay.
From deadlines and workload to weather and wildfire smoke, something came up every time I planned to get down there this year. But with the season ending, I had to make it a priority this past week or wait until next year.
As luck would have it, Wednesday was one of the worst rainstorms I’ve seen in years. There was a heavy downpour for most of the drive, with a strong crosswind from Calgary to Lethbridge. With poor visibility, water-filled ruts grabbing at the tires, and fun with hydroplaning, I was relieved to arrive in Coaldale at about 1 PM.
Finally, inside the centre’s entrance, I was met by adorable juvenile Burrowing Owls, a young Saw-whet Owl, and a Kestrel, all on perches, chortling and squawking away.
I immediately started snapping pics with my phone, thinking, “I want to paint you, and you, and you, and all of your friends and family.”
Colin had told me he was hosting a large group that day, but one of the staff said they had to cancel because of the weather. At that moment, I was the only guest in the whole place. I spent the next few hours taking photos on what felt like my own private tour.
On the weather app radar, the vast rain system occupied much of southern and central Alberta, rotating like a tropical storm. However, the eye settled and turned over Lethbridge and Coaldale for most of the afternoon. Cool and blustery, but no rain for a while, and fantastic light. A few other guests showed up, but the afternoon was quiet.
Just before 4, the rain began again, and I retreated to my hotel for the evening. It poured all night, but I woke to a clear morning and a light wind, perfect for another visit with the birds.
One of the reasons I wanted to get there before they closed for the season was to try and capture some shots of the flight training. For birds that can’t be released, they get regular exercise on two long runways where they fly back and forth for food.
Our romantic notion of eagles flying for the sheer joy of it, simply because they can, isn’t supported by reality. Birds of prey are pretty lazy, and if they don’t have to hunt, they’ll sit in a tree all day. The caregivers at the centre need to be careful not to feed them before flight training because if they aren’t hungry, they won’t fly.
They also tend to overheat, and it only takes two or three flights down the runway before an eagle will pant like a dog to cool off. After the training, they’re taken back to the aviary when handlers allow younger guests to give the birds a rain shower with the hose to help them cool down, something the birds clearly enjoy.
While the storm conditions made the light great on my first day, the wind cancelled the flight training. Clear skies and sunshine on Thursday made for good flying conditions, but the light was too bright, so while I enjoyed watching them fly, I didn’t get any good action shots for painting reference.
Wildlife and weather, you can’t count on either.
I still took plenty of reference photos for future paintings, especially for one bird I’ve wanted to paint for years. And had I returned home with only the shots I’d taken thus far, I would have been pleased with the visit.
But after the first flight training, Colin texted me to meet him at the gift shop. He’d been off the property on Wednesday and responding to a rescue call that morning, so I hadn’t seen him yet.
I was pleased to see him again, as I hadn’t since my last visit in 2021. Colin told me he had a surprise for me outside. We walked out to his truck with Miyah, one of the senior staff, and he said he was going to let me release two Swainson’s Hawks back into the wild.
I would have been content just to see a release, but to let one go myself (let alone two) was an unexpected thrill. I thought perhaps I’d just be opening the door on a box, but I soon realized Colin was about to hand me an adult hawk…twice!
Obviously well practiced in making this experience memorable for anyone granted this honour, Colin’s instructions were clear and specific to ensure the birds’ safety and be in the correct position for the best possible photos. He and Miyah had cameras ready to capture the releases and took plenty of pictures for me.
While I wasn’t as graceful as an experienced hawk-thrower, I thrust each bird forward and upward as instructed and let go, a great feeling to see recovered birds once again flying free. Hopefully, mine are the last hands those birds ever feel, and they live a long and healthy life in the wild, thanks to the tireless efforts of Colin and his team.
On the sunny, pleasant return drive home, I had time to reflect on the incredible privilege of having had that experience. I didn’t do any work to save those birds, but I got the reward. What a gift.
Their last day of the season for visitor access is Monday September 2nd. If a last minute trip isn’t in the cards for you or your family this weekend, the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre will open again in May. If you plan to be near the Lethbridge area next spring or summer, make a side trip to Coaldale and see these birds for yourself. In the meantime, visit their website or follow their efforts on Facebook and Instagram. Support them if you can.
Many facilities like this exist in communities worldwide, run by dedicated animal lovers trying to help nature keep up with our impact on the planet. Please consider donating to one of them to help these folks continue to do their incredible work for wildlife conservation.
Cheers,
Patrick
But I’ve also been working on the group of bears I’ve been chipping away at for some time now. The original plan for this piece was five adult bears sitting at a log in the woods, like a group of friends hanging out and chatting. I drew six of them separately to give myself options.
However, when I dropped and dragged them together into one image, the digital canvas was very long. A long horizontal canvas has appeal for a canvas or metal print. However, from a commercial perspective, it would limit what I could offer for licensing and paper prints.
Once I was pleased with the group layout, I dropped the layer’s opacity and traced over the shapes and basic features. I did this several times, refining with each pass.
Then, I got to work on the shading, detail, expressions, and character. I do that right up until the end of every painting, as personality is the most essential part and is where I have the most fun. And with this painting, I’ve got five faces to discover instead of one.
This piece seems like a family posing for a Sears portrait or the opening of a sitcom like Family Ties or Growing Pains. I’m going to call it ‘The Grizzlies.’
Despite the bright sun, I got some shots of the two black bear cubs. There might be inspiration for a painting or two in the few photos I kept, but I will let them simmer and review them in a few months. My mood and circumstances can colour my perception, so shots that don’t inspire me in August might push the right buttons in January.
Although I prefer to take my own reference photos whenever possible, I am not interested in becoming a professional photographer. Connecting the dots between aperture, shutter speed and ISO and understanding how they work together, it just seems like math and bores the hell out of me.
I know that hook because I have it for drawing and painting. I can spend hours detailing little hairs or working to get the texture of a bear’s nose just right. I am confident that would be incredibly dull for most people.
So, while I revel in learning a photography trick or technique that helps me take better reference, like 
At the end of July, on the day I sent 
Though most of Alberta had been dealing with heavy wildfire smoke that week, it completely cleared up by the time I got to the cabin and stayed that way the whole four days we were there. The temperature even dropped to a comfortable level and we got some welcome rain. In fact, on the first night, it cooled off so much that we wondered if we might need a fire in the wood stove. Given the oppressive heat we’d just escaped, we had no appetite for that. But wearing long pants and a hoodie seemed strange that evening, given how uncomfortable the past month had been.
Even though I couldn’t turn off my busy brain, it was good to get away. We did what we always do: sat around talking, napped on the decks in the afternoon, walked around the large property, and played guitar, cards and Scrabble. Yes, we’re boring old men.
It was a very pretty and delightfully cool morning, and I knew there would be plenty of time to nap on the deck later in the day, so my mood improved. I wandered up the road, spooked a few deer and watched them take off across the neighbour’s newly cut and bailed hayfield. I kept my eyes peeled for other wildlife, hoping for an owl or coyote.
The base of the tree she ran up to escape was twenty feet below me down the steep bank, so her ‘safe height’ now put her at eye level with me as I stood on the road. And she was NOT happy about it.
Though I had done what I could to boost my exposure compensation to account for the dark area in which I was shooting, I needed to keep the shutter speed high to try to capture this quick little marten. In the end, none of the pictures I got were very good, but I enjoyed the moment. I don’t know if I have ever seen a pine marten in the wild, but I was pleased with the early morning treat.
.
Over the past week, I’ve received a few 
This past Sunday, I had drawn two cartoons in the morning and was going to paint all afternoon. Then President Biden announced he was no longer running for re-election, and suddenly, I had to draw a new cartoon for Monday morning. While drawing each cartoon takes a few hours or more, I first have to come up with the idea, which also takes time.
Adjusting course, I planned to paint all day Tuesday but woke to find out that the town of Jasper had evacuated for a wildfire. Suddenly, I had to scrap the cartoon I’d already drawn and sent Monday afternoon for the 
Having been through an evacuation in 2013 (water, not fire), and the odds are a little too good we may one day go through that again; I feel for those people. It’s a frightening thing to leave your home and not know if will be there when you get back. As the fire has breached the town of Jasper, and structures are burning, some people will lose everything. What makes it worse is when insensitive, small-minded keyboard warriors post stupid things like, “It’s only stuff.”
I have several paintings in progress, a few I expected to be done by now, which is frustrating. Because each features several animals, they take much longer, contributing to the feeling I’m not producing enough finished work.
In the meantime, I hope you’re having a good summer despite the oppressive heat and wildfire smoke in some places. After a cool and comfortable rainy June, our July has sucked up all the moisture, and our brown grass and crispy trees could use some precipitation.
Because of my current workload and deadlines, I haven’t been able to get away for reference photos lately. Shonna and I want to see our families and visit 
When I got to the new polar bear habitat, I was surprised to find both bears sparring with each other in their smaller splash pool. They have a much larger pool, but this was clearly where they wanted to be. Baffin and Siku seemed to be having a great time, wrestling, biting, and pushing each other under the water.
Though I have just finished a polar bear painting and haven’t time to start another one, I took plenty of references for future projects.
Finally, at the other end of the zoo, I caught the red pandas awake and playful and took photos that will no doubt inspire paintings down the road. One had found a perch high in a tree, balanced over a branch, in a comically lazy pose. There’s painting potential there.
After only a couple of hours, I was more than ready to head home, sort through the pics, and finish drawing an 
I dropped off a large print and sticker order to the 
Titles are challenging. While I prefer to come up with something funny or endearing for each painting, I also need to consider my clients and their customers. Simple identifying titles are often better, especially as my portfolio grows. I already have two polar bear paintings 
The paintings I was already working on need to be done by the end of next month so I can order puzzles and products for the markets. Then there are the sketches, paintings and writing for the book, six editorial 
Sure, I’ll bitch about being too busy sometimes, but I chose this. Though the landscape will change, as will the work, and it’s unlikely ever to get easier, I plan to create art as long as possible. I don’t know if I could do anything else, now.
I’m grateful for so many of you who follow my work, comment on my posts or write emails, sending me wildlife pictures and thoughts about something I’ve shared or the artwork in general. With so much content available to us, that anyone volunteers to receive my
This photo always makes me chuckle. That evil-looking stare straight down my lens, the squinting focused eyes, the chunk missing from her ear. She reminds me of a gangster saying, “Come closer. See what happens.”
I’m happy with how it’s turned out so far, and I’m also hoping to offer the finished piece as a puzzle later this year.
So, when I’m working on several paintings at once and more involved pieces featuring multiple animals or more detailed backgrounds, paintings that take much longer than a whimsical head and shoulders portrait can be uncomfortable. It feels like I’m not getting enough done.
The finished piece will be a lot more detailed than the images in progress you see here. But the vision for what I’m trying to achieve is clear in my mind, and I’m having fun discovering each of these faces.
I rarely visit the 
Parks Canada officials would have euthanized Bear #16 in 1996, but the Calgary Zoo had an opening, and he has lived there ever since. In the wild, a male grizzly doesn’t live far past his 20s. Skoki is now 37 years old. He is an old bear and looks it, but despite obvious age-related deficiencies, he’s healthy.
One day in June last year, after dropping off prints, I found Skoki active again. I followed him around his large enclosure until he did something I’d never seen before. He walked the length of a log until he came to a larger log that crossed it. He straddled the one on which he’d been walking and put his paws up on the crossed log. He looked like he’d just bellied up to the bar and was waiting for service.
This painting has been rattling around in my noggin for quite a while, and I’ve drawn several sketches, including the ones in this post. All the reference I’m using for this work in progress is Skoki, but I’ll make the five bears different heights, weights and colour variations so they don’t all look like the same bear. Other photo references will help me do that, and I’m planning more sketches like these to explore my options.
I started one of these Skoki sketches a little while ago and figured I’d try a full pose of how he sat that day. Before I knew it, I had drawn more detail and realized the image below was becoming its own painting.
Because I don’t paint a lot of backgrounds in my work, I’ll often begin some paintings in grayscale so I can get the light, shadows and contrast right. Later, I can add colour using various techniques I’ve discovered in over twenty years of digital painting.
We stayed up waiting for the northern lights Friday, but with none arriving by 11, we retreated to our separate spaces. I’m indeed one of the old guys now.
The next morning, I admitted that just before I knocked on a dark, quiet trailer, I wondered if I was painting a target on my chest. Nobody likes to be woken from a dead sleep. Thankfully, all agreed it was worth it. After all, that’s what Saturday afternoon lawn chair naps are for.
On Saturday, several hummingbirds made rounds at three or four feeders Babe and Sue have around their home. Having never before captured decent shots of these tiny speedsters, I must have learned a few things over the years as I came home with several potential reference photos, more than you see here.
While these photos are edited, of course, that convenient red background is Babe’s little barn garage for his trailer, as a couple of the hummingbirds landed and sat on the safety wire surrounding the deck of the house.
My first instinct is to paint several of these poses, a line of little hummingbirds on the same wire, and devise my own vibrant colour scheme for each bird. I’m sure that seems like sacrilege to any hardcore birders, but my art doesn’t represent reality. I guess I’ll see what happens when I get into it, whenever that might be.
Regardless of how or when I paint from these pics, I enjoyed stalking the quick little critters. The best part about taking wildlife photos strictly for reference is that it doesn’t matter if the backgrounds or lighting aren’t great. Where a wildlife photographer might not see an image worthy of sharing or printing, all I care about is the detail and whether it inspires a possible painting or two.
And that’s my cue to head back to the drawing board. Next time, I’ll have some new artwork to share, or at least some works in progress.