Monday 5 December 2011

winter camouflage






How do you think a Flock can tell when it has lingered in the North too long??!

Tuesday 29 November 2011

navigation navigation navigation


Last chance to see the Flock in Ullapool! 

If you look at the birds closely you'll see that some of them have maps scrawled on their wings: these are to help them navigate southwards.  Some will be apparently guided by roundabouts and traffic lights; others are on the lookout for camels and palm trees to show they're heading in the right direction.  It seems a few are even planning to take in Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower on their trip south, carrying messages in English and Gaelic with them.  Well done to the primary school children of Lewis for doing such thoughtful planning. 

These birds will leave Ullapool in the next few days.  They have every chance of a successful migration!

Saturday 19 November 2011

heading south

The Flock has just arrived in Ullapool!  They flew from the Isle of Lewis this week and will now be at An Talla Solais for a couple of weeks before heading further south en route to Africa. 

Please come and see them in our temporary aviary.  It's a rare chance to see such a gathering of multi-coloured birds together in the highlands.  Above is a corncrake, accompanied by food for the journey.  Several thousand miles still to go...

Friday 11 November 2011

apex


Here is our Flock of drawings and paper birds at its northernmost point - in An Lanntair, the art centre in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, 58.2 degrees latitude.  Within the week it is going to wheel around and start flying south again.  Go and see it this week in Stornoway if you can! 

A migration fact: did you know that an ancient way of counting migratory birds was to look at the face of the full moon and count the silhouettes of birds flying across it?  With these clear bright nights you can try it too!  However in case you miss our Flock by moonlight, this blog will keep you posted as the birds travel south, heading back to Africa to see out the winter.

Saturday 29 October 2011

jet lag


This is Sonam in Bhutan, who was waylaid by drawing a bird for our Big Draw Flock on the way home from school.  His bird and others made in Bhutan followed an unusual migration route east to west to join the rest of our birds in Scotland. 

We haven't managed to calculate their airmiles yet - does anyone want to have a go?  What with who knows how many time zones, and the fact that here the clocks go back tonight, these birds can be expected to be the most disorientated of them all.  Come and see them, and others from elsewhere in the world, on display in An Lanntair, Stornoway, for the next two weeks.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

corncrake crazy

Our Big Draw Flock is gathering its last few birds as it comes to settle on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, its northernmost destination.  Primary school pupils from Balallan (above), Laxdale, Carloway and Stornoway have been learning about corncrakes with the help of the RSPB and An Lanntair Art Centre, and drawing pictures of them.  The pupils mapped the migration route of corncrakes from Lewis to North Africa, and made origami corncrakes from the maps. 

The corncrake is hard to see in real life - 50% of the UK's breeding pairs nest in the Western Isles but they are shy birds.  Never before have so many been seen in the primary schools of Lewis!  See the Stornoway page for more pictures.

Monday 17 October 2011

onwards and upwards

Today the piles of stamped and addressed bird cards that have gathered so far from Africa, Spain, Bhutan, London and Ullapool were posted north to the Hebrides.  Isn't it nice to think of them all out there in the air somewhere - a great squawking feathery conglomerate gaggle of them? 

Saturday 15 October 2011

long haul flight

Iona is drawing an owl in flight: she has carefully traced and transferred it and has yet to turn her fingers blue with felt-tip sky. 

Today An Talla Solais held the Ullapool leg of the Flock migration, creating a fabulous range of birds to send on their way.  We mapped our own local migrations, made our own constellations to steer by, discovered incredible bird facts (do swallows really spend the winter in South Africa?) and created weird and very wonderful birds to fly north.  There are pictures of some of the birds - including Iona's finished owl - on the Ullapool page. 

The Flock is nearing the end of its migration after a long haul flight of several weeks and thousands of miles.  Next stop Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides!

Thursday 13 October 2011

Small artists from Ullapool Primary School in the Scottish highlands have started adding to the Flock by creating beautifully observed cards like this one.  An Talla Solais (Ullapool Visual Arts) is hosting the next Flock workshop, on Saturday 15th from 11am - 2pm.  Please come and join us for all or some of it, and help us make more birds using coloured paper, maps and your own migration patterns!

In the meantime other birds are arriving by post from the south every day.  The Flock so far will be on display alongside the workshop - come and have a look!  See the Ullapool page for more info about the workshop.

Sunday 9 October 2011

birds of London

Today over 100 people flocked to Art in the Park in Camberwell to make migrating birds for the London phase of the project.  Using the birds of Burgess Park as inspiration (swans, woodpeckers, herons, pigeons and possibly a pterodactyl), visitors drew and cut out birds which they then painted with Art in the Park's two spectacular painting machines.  They were indeed a spectacle to watch: one of them involved shooting bright paint at a moving picture, and the other was a demanding wood and string contraption which got people levering paint onto their pictures at a safe distance of 6 feet.  At the same time others were making a series of clay pots and imprinting them with bird patterns.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and the workshop was much enjoyed - see the Camberwell page for more pictures of the day.  The birds made today will now be posted up to Ullapool, flying northwards on their migration to the Hebrides.

the eagle has landed!


This week the first bird cards have started to fly in from the south.  These ones set off from Morocco, Bhutan and Spain, covering incalculable air miles between them, and have arrived in London for a well-earned rest before travelling north again later this week.

Monday 26 September 2011

Speed, bonnie birds

Down at the Equator, Beatrice and team are sending the first birds north this weekend.  Wish them a fair wind and swift journey - they have over 3000 miles to cover before they arrive in Camberwell...


This is the Flock's London destination.  The Aylesbury Estate is maybe the biggest of its kind in Europe.  Artists at Art in the Park will be bringing out their crazy painting machines on Sunday 9th October and inviting the residents from this Camberwell Estate to come and make birds of all sorts which will be sent on up to Scotland to continue their migration.  See the Camberwell page, and come and join us - everyone's welcome! 

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Sealed With A Loving Bird

Here in Ullapool the Post Office doesn't stock stamps with pictures on (a matter of principle).  However we do not mind as much as we should, because we have just received an anonymous donation of the most glorious stamps you can imagine!  We are going to enjoy putting our Big Draw drawings in the post with these little beauties on them.

Wednesday 31 August 2011

au revoir

Thanks to Kate, we will not be advertising this project as 'Herd' when the latest cards reach Morocco.  The French word for Flock is Volee, not Troupeau, she says.  In the meantime, our Hebridean participants are wondering what route a corncrake takes between Lewis and North Africa.  There is a lot more learning going on here than we had imagined.

Tuesday 16 August 2011

first flight

Beatrice is going to start the African flock in Gulu, northern Uganda.  The first birds-to-be are sent south in preparation.  Apwoyo matec Beatrice! 

Monday 15 August 2011

a deep breath

We look a bit blank at the moment but we are about to get going on this year's Big Draw, involving artists from Africa to London to Ullapool to Stornoway.  This week we will be creating the cards which need to fly south before they can be turned into birds and posted north again! 

There is also the tricky question of sponsorship.  Chiefly, we have an awful lot of stamps to conjure up from somewhere - can you help??

An Talla Solais, Ullapool