#nisegwag

[silverhart-makes-art]

I think I have an idea of what this week's Bestiary Posting critter is, but hard to know for sure.

Either way, I originally just drew a plover-type bird for the Nisegwag as they lay their eggs in the sand, and I think they look quite dignified and graceful, but… honestly it was kind of boring, so I thought 'what else lays eggs in the sand? Sea turtles!' So I gave it a shell and turned it's back feet and wings into flippers. Afterall, it doesn't say anywhere in the description that this bird flies! So there you have it: a turtle-plover nisegwag.

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Nisegwag

Birds! Moving right along.

If you don't know what this is about, you can find out at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry these artists are working from is here:

And if you want to join in next week, that entry is here:

Art below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) says they started with a plover-like bird, but then decided it could also be part turtle since technically there's no mention of it flying. I think that turned out really well, so good call there.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) wanted to show the weather effects described in the entry, so we get a good view of the sunbeams and calm sea. I think it's a really nice beach scene, and the little hatchling is quite charming. Additional details in the linked post, and thank you for including alt text.

@strixcattus (link to post here) has given us a seabird watching its eggs, and her usual fictionalized-naturalist overview of what the creature this entry is based on might be like (in the linked post). Enjoyable, and I also really like the pose that's going on here.

@wendievergreen (link to post here) has done this really lovely stylized depiction; everything about it is delightful, really. I recommend checking out the linked post to learn more.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) correctly notes that cormorants are excellent birds, and has based their design on one. I think the pose and face as it calms the sea here really works.

So, the Aberdeen Bestiary:

So this is a... maybe-mythical one, and one that's particularly interesting because of how it has and hasn't been remembered in modern culture. The story about the bird that calms the sea is pretty much completely forgotten, but preserved in a fossilized phrase -- let me share with you the un-redacted version of the last sentence of the entry:

This little bird is endowed by God with such grace that sailors know with confidence that these fourteen days will be days of fine weather and call them 'the halcyon days', in which there will be no period of stormy weather.

Yep. That's where that phrase comes from. Meet the halcyon. This whole business apparently traces back to the Greek myth of Alcyone, if you want to know more.

As for "maybe-mythical" -- the halcyon is apparently probably a kingfisher, but there's some doubt surrounding whether the ancient sources are actually referring to the same bird. I chose not to fall down that particular rabbit hole.

[wendievergreen]

Nisegwag

I detected a religious metaphor in this one what with the seven day creation and taming of the seas, so I asked my siblings for suggestions on the most divine shorebird. Sibling was very certain that the puffin is the most god-like bird on the shore🙏 so that's where I started.

The species most common on our coast is the tufted puffin, and while their tufts are soft and hang down behind their heads, I decided to have my nisegwag's tufts curve up to form a halo.

I wanted to make it a little more generically seabird so I also referenced a plover for the legs and a gull for the body and wings.

[cheapsweets]

The Lulling Nisegwag

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum

Pencil sketch, then lines in Pentel brush pen (had to refill the cartridge half-way through!).

Thought process under the cut…

“The Nisegwag is a seabird which produces its young on the shore, depositing its eggs in the sand, around midwinter."

So, a seabird, that nests on the shore. Means I don't need to worry too much about colour (since most seabirds are variations on greys, whites and blacks). Specifically, it nests in the sand, so I did a bit of digging and based the nest loosely off that of terns and plovers (the terns also had a bit of influence with the bird's markings on the face and beak, along with gannets (mostly because they are really pretty looking birds!).

"It chooses as the time to hatch its young, the period when the sea is at its highest and the waves break more fiercely than usual on the shore; with the result that the grace with which this bird is endowed shines forth the more, with the dignity of an unexpected calm. For it is a fact that when the sea has been raging, once the Nisegwag’s eggs have been laid, it suddenly becomes gentle, all the stormy winds subside, the strong breezes lighten, and as the wind drops, the sea lies calm, until the Nisegwag hatches its eggs."

I compressed the different time periods here a little for effect - as such, we have the suns rays breaking through the heavy cloud above, and the sea being calm, just as the chicks are hatching. We can also see some bladder wrack and other natural ocean materials thrown up onto the beach by the previous stormy weather, inclduding shells and a cuttlebone. We also know that this bird is graceful (I'm going to assume in flight, rather than on the ground!) so we have a few of the flight feathers clearly visible at the ends of the wings. It's also generally a quite smooth bird, with thick, water resistant feathers, though it has fluffed up its chest feathers to incubate the eggs.

"The eggs take seven days to hatch, at the end of which the Nisegwag brings forth its young and the hatching is at an end. The Nisegwag takes a further seven days to feed its chicks until they begin to grow into young birds. Such a short feeding-time is nothing to marvel at, since the completion when the hatching process takes so few days. This little bird is endowed by God with such grace that sailors know with confidence that these fourteen days will be days of fine weather and call them ‘[redacted]’, in which there will be no period of stormy weather.”

A very quick growing bird - at first I wanted to draw cute, fluffy chicks, but then I realised the birds would be new born; hence the slightly skrungly, goosebumpy appearance.

Some parts of this one were a bit more experimental. I'm really happy with how the actual creature came out, but learning to draw sea and sunbeams was hard, and I'd probably do the clouds differently if I was doing this over again. All good learning, and all good fun :)

[coolest-capybara]

Didn't have time to color it fully this week, but here is a last-minute Nisegwag for this week’s Maniculum Bestiaryposting challenge!

"The Nisegwag is a seabird which produces its young on the shore, depositing its eggs in the sand, around midwinter. It chooses as the time to hatch its young, the period when the sea is at its highest and the waves break more fiercely than usual on the shore; with the result that the grace with which this bird is endowed shines forth the more, with the dignity of an unexpected calm. For it is a fact that when the sea has been raging, once the Nisegwag’s eggs have been laid, it suddenly becomes gentle, all the stormy winds subside, the strong breezes lighten, and as the wind drops, the sea lies calm, until the Nisegwag hatches its eggs. The eggs take seven days to hatch, at the end of which the Nisegwag brings forth its young and the hatching is at an end. The Nisegwag takes a further seven days to feed its chicks until they begin to grow into young birds. Such a short feeding-time is nothing to marvel at, since the completion when the hatching process takes so few days. This little bird is endowed by God with such grace that sailors know with confidence that these fourteen days will be days of fine weather and call them ‘[redacted]’, in which there will be no period of stormy weather."

In my personal opinion, Cormorants are some of the most dignified and graceful seabirds, which was the full extent of my thought process here. This one is kindly calming the sea.

[strixcattus]

The Nisegwag

The Nisegwag

The Nisegwag is a bird native to the east coast of North America. Populations are found from Newfoundland to North Carolina year-round, with some migrating to the Gulf of Mexico in the winter. Nisegwags have white feathers, with grey backs and dark grey speckles covering most of their bodies.

A Nisegwag's diet consists mainly of invertebrates, both aquatic and terrestrial. They primarily unearth their prey by probing in the sand with their beaks, though they will also peck at shallow water for crabs and small fish.

Nisegwags tend to lay their eggs in December or January. A female Nisegwag will lay up to six eggs at a time, but she will bury these eggs in separate clutches of two or three, hiding them in the sand sometimes quite a distance apart. For nearly a month, she will largely ignore these eggs, until the final week before they hatch.

At this point, the mother will return to her hiding places and check for her eggs. Whichever clutches have survived, she will periodically nestle on them to keep them warm, until the chicks finally hatch.

Nisegwag chicks attain independence rapidly, and the mother will typically only bring back food for her chicks for the first week or two of their lives. They will at this point have begun to make their first forays out from the nest during the points their mother is not watching over them, and all will gradually spend more and more time away until neither the chicks nor the mother returns to the nest site.

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting -- Nisegwag

As a reminder, all previous entries in this series can be found at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting .

The Nisegwag is a seabird which produces its young on the shore, depositing its eggs in the sand, around midwinter. It chooses as the time to hatch its young, the period when the sea is at its highest and the waves break more fiercely than usual on the shore; with the result that the grace with which this bird is endowed shines forth the more, with the dignity of an unexpected calm. For it is a fact that when the sea has been raging, once the Nisegwag's eggs have been laid, it suddenly becomes gentle, all the stormy winds subside, the strong breezes lighten, and as the wind drops, the sea lies calm, until the Nisegwag hatches its eggs. The eggs take seven days to hatch, at the end of which the Nisegwag brings forth its young and the hatching is at an end. The Nisegwag takes a further seven days to feed its chicks until they begin to grow into young birds. Such a short feeding-time is nothing to marvel at, since the completion when the hatching process takes so few days. This little bird is endowed by God with such grace that sailors know with confidence that these fourteen days will be days of fine weather and call them ‘[redacted]', in which there will be no period of stormy weather.

Remember to tag posts with #Nisegwag so folks can find them.

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Khrathnu

We've got kind of an interesting-yet-vague entry and a variety of responses to it, so let's get into that. Please forgive any sloppiness I am slightly inebriated.

For anyone who doesn't know what this is about, please see https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry from which our artists are working in this post can be found here:

And if you want to join in, the next entry is here:

Art below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has drawn something in the enjoyable genre I have taken to thinking of as "nonspecific mammal" -- i.e. a creature design that is clearly mammalian and entirely plausible-looking without being any specific known animal. The action shot is very well-executed I think, and I encourage the reader to check out the linked post to learn more about the inspiration for the various aspects of this animal.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has a very good rendition of some kind of canid playing dead as described in the entry -- note the single open eye to allow it to spring its trap. Again very good and quite believable -- the linked post has a few more details regarding the thought process behind this design. (And thank you for including alt text.)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) has another good Nonspecific Mammal, stylized in a way that I find interesting. I don't know enough about art to describe it, but it looks super cool, and they've also provided these nice close-ups and some alt text (thank you for that). There's some additional explanation in the linked post -- I think this one has a certain flair that I really enjoy.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has an interesting concept here where the art itself seems to give the Khrathnu the "nothing to see here" treatment -- after all, the bird (which long-term readers may recognize as a Lumchagg) is more colorful and closer to the center of the image. However, the clever Khrathnu is the true star here, luring its prey to its doom. Very good composition, check the linked post for inspiration, explanation, and an interesting link.

@strixcattus (link to post here) has done a solid weasel-like critter here, clearly playing dead in the interest of luring in some prey. In the linked post you will find a brief in-universe-perspective description of this animal, and as usual I encourage you to go back and read all of Strixcattus's posts in this project.

Okay, so this is the fox.

I feel like between the illustration and the thematic elements of the entry, this is an "oh, that makes sense" kind of situation. Of course the fox is crafty and deceitful in its methods of catching prey. And sure, the artist here got pretty close to an accurate fox depiction. It's canid at least. All good, no problems.

Things I cannot explain:

What's with the other foxes in the burrows there? Yes foxes like to live in burrows, but (a) that's not in the entry and (b) weird way to depict it.

Why is there one (1) magpie present in addition to the various generic birds of prey?

The world is full of mysteries, but please speculate at your leisure.