Pee Wee

Ink on Arches paper ($POA)

30 cm W x 23 cm H
When I used to do wildlife care, I often cared for orphaned and abandoned fledglings. Pee Wee was one of my success stories, being raised on mealworms, bugs and any other creepy crawlies I could procure for her. After she was old enough and took to the skies to go live independently, she would often return if I called out “Pee Wee” loudly enough for her to hear. This continued for several weeks before finally she never returned, presumably having made her own way into the world. Pee Wee was actually a magpie-lark, (Grallina cyanoleuca) often also known as the peewee, peewit or mudlark. The sexes are similar from a distance but easy to tell apart: the female has a white throat, the male a black throat and a white “eyebrow”.