Front page layout update

Featuring worried sharks.

Baby fights

When it comes to fan depictions of Blue and Echo's big fight that got big enough it left Echo with permanent marks, I usually see it set in when both raptors already look just as they do in their first appearance in Jurassic World (apart from Echo's scar and misaligned jaw). As much as the raptors are probably still very young adults in that movie, though, I wonder if they actually were nearly even that old at the time.

2019 art summary

Lots of raptors, cuddling and otherwise. Also ladies in love with ladies, and lady raptors in love and cuddling with lady raptors. A few cats. Sounds about right.

I didn't write nearly as much this year as the last one, apart from comics, but I'm still really happy with the one fanfic I did write. About raptors, of course. It went from a blog post wondering about what might have happened after Jurassic Park to writing a dramatization of said wonderings, to liking the characters enough I've drawn them a bunch of times and by the end of the year made custom toy figures of them.

I'm also really happy about how much I've learned this year about actual raptors outside Jurassic Park/World, from real life science on deinonychosaurs to how to draw them feathered and otherwise more accurate, and also learning more about present-day birds in general and avian raptors in particular. While the number of my scaly raptor OCs has increased quite a bit over the year, my first one has also gone from vaguely scaly-looking to fully feathered.

Blank template for the graphic is by yorunaka at deviantart

Eaglet cuteness

Happened to check the Southwest Florida eagle cam just in time for a closeup of little 2-day-old E14 peeking out from under mom, so I took a few screenshots.

Live camera: site, youtube

Eyeing again

And Triptail is done! I think she turned out quite cute if I do say so myself.

I should have photos of the whole pack ready to post sometime before the end of the month (year. decade! wow, it's really been another one of those already, hasn't it).

Avian raptor nest going-ons

If you've been following what I've been drawing lately you'll know raptor nesting is the theme at the moment. But I'm also keeping an eye on a few non-Jurassic World, non-deinonychosaur raptor nests. Interesting stuff, if you find observing dinosaurs interesting, which I do.

And I'm happy to bring the news that one of these nests is beginning to hatch their babies of this season right this moment! The first chick may take a day to get out of the egg entirely, but the shell has cracked, with a tiny beak peeking through. The other egg is a few days younger, and is expected to hatch a bit later. Congratulations and lots of luck to bald eagle couple Harriet and M15 of Southwest Florida!

Live feed of the nest can be viewed here.

Other bald eagle nests I'm following include:

Jackie and Shadow of Big Bear. No eggs yet this season, but that's not out of schedule considering the difference in location to the Florida nest, and the couple has been getting the nest ready for a while now.

Starr, Valor I, and Valor II of Upper Mississippi River. A trio instead of duo, consisting of one female and two males, all nesting together.

A fair warning for viewing the nest cams, as they do capture both good times and bad in the lives of wild animals. Also, bald eagle chicks (and many raptor chicks in general) can exhibit rather intense sibling rivalry in their early days, and while not out of the ordinary it can be hard to watch. And of course these are carnivorous birds, so expect to regularly see dead animals as food in the nest.

Most of what you'll see will probably not be too gruesome, though. Before any eggs have been laid you're also still likely to catch the nest empty even during the breeding season, with the adults being away fetching material or perching in nearby trees instead. Other than that, it'll probably mostly be along the lines of birbs arranging sticks; brooding eggs and then chicks; putting sticks on their brooding mate who's forgotten to let the other parent have a turn at brooding, too, so they'll get up already (okay that was like one time, but it was funny); and tiny, fluffy hatchlings struggling to hold their big head up and then continuing to look endearingly awkward and completely unmajestic thoughout their childhood.

Lady Hawk at youtube, among other channels, has an excellent archive of this and past seasons of many raptor nests of a variety of species, including the ones mentioned above.

Frightful