The birds one can see while travelling

One of the perks of living in Chicago was the variety of birds I saw when the weather changed. In the Spring when it was getting warm and a sudden cold front came , I was visited by Red-breasted grosbeaks. In the fall the white crown sparrows(one is pictured here) appeared just as they do in Santa Barbara, where I live now. They have the most beautiful song. While I was in England I saw a robin that was nothing like the Robin I grew up knowing in Chattanooga, it was smaller and much more the size of a blue bird.

It always surprises me when I travel and see a bird that reminds me of home even if it is a raven or crow and may have a variation of the feather pattern from that of the crows and ravens in the states. This summer I went to Israel and I saw the most fantastic birds. I had no idea that when birds from Europe make their great migration to Africa they stop in Israel. I visited Israel in June and I guess some of the birds that usually migrate decided to stay long enough for me to see them. I saw bee-eaters and the common heron (which was far from common with turquoise and burnt sienna colored feathers),Rose-Ringed Parakeets, Syrian Woodpeckers, a common crane in a field of grain, a Spur-winged Lapwing, a Great Tit( I know, it has probably one of the more embarrassing names other than the Blue-Tit that I saw in Ireland), a Speckled Bulbul and the Hoopoe,the national bird of Israel. I have sketches of these birds and when I finish my present projects I will paint them and share them with you.