Nadokwak - Tumblr Posts

The Vigilant Nadokwak

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

Pencil sketch, then lines in Sailor fude nib fountain pen, using Diamine Sepia ink.

Thought process under the cut…

"Nadokwaks take their name from the sound of their own particular call, or such is the low, muttering sound they make. It is interesting to recall how Nadokwaks organise their journeys. They go to some extent in military formation, and in case the wind should be against them on their way to their chosen land, they eat sand and ballast themselves to a reasonable weight by picking up small stones. Then they fly as high as they can, so that a from higher vantage point they can look out for the lands they seek. As they fly swiftly on their way, they follow one of their number in a V-shaped formation. Confident in its navigation, it leads the group. It scolds the laggards and keeps the formation together with its calls. When it grows hoarse, another takes over. Nadokwaks are united in their concern for those who tire, to such an extent that if any drop out, they all surround the exhausted birds and support them until their strength is restored by this period of rest.

At night Nadokwaks keep careful watch. You can see the sentinels at their posts; while the other members of the group sleep, others do the rounds and check lest they should be ambushed from any quarter; with their tireless energy, they ensure total vigilance. When the Nadokwak’s turn on watch is over and its duty is done, it settles down to sleep, first giving a cry to wake one of those already asleep, whose turn it is to be on duty. The new guard takes up its allotted task willingly, not refusing, as we do, gracelessly, because we want to go on sleeping; instead, rousing itself readily from its resting-place, it takes its turn and repays the service it has received with equal attention to duty. Nadokwaks do not desert the group, because they are devoted by nature. They keep a safe watch, because they do it of their own free will. They divide the watches at night and take them in turns, according to a roster, holding small stones in their claws to ward off sleep. They give a cry when there is cause for alarm. Their colouring shows their age, for as they grow older, it grows darker."

We have a lot of text here, but most if this is about behaviour, not much of a description. What we can glean from this is;

It's a bird - we don't even have to extrapolate to get this one, plus we know that they fly

They get darker as they get older

They can hold rocks in their feet (so probably not a bird with webbed feet - although you do get the occasional species of perching duck, which could probably manage it)

So, we have a slightly generic flocking, flying bird. Not much in the way of distinctive markings (surely these would have been mentioned in the description?). I figured I'd give them a little bit of a neck, mostly because I felt

In terms of style, I've started reading the Moomins books - I love Tove Jannson's illustrations, so I've done a lot of experimenting with a similar style.

I tried to illustrate the main behaviours mentioned, including the Nadokwak on guard, holding a rock in its foot to stay awake while its companions snooze. I considered trying to set out the dozing birds like a military camp, but couldn't find a good way to make that work; they have however camped out in an easily defensible hollow, almost like earthen ramparts around them.

If you look carefully, you can also just make out a V-formation of Nadokwak flying overhead. This wasn't meant to be quite so obscure, but the shading of the sky resulted in having to peer a little to spot them. This does work well with them flying at night, of course!

That's another one that seems very obvious in hindsight, but I suspect like many others, I struggled to stop thinking of geese!

Although they are still very rare in britain, looks like the Common Crane was native to England in the middle ages (and that bestiary illustration is actually not a bad likeness!)

Bestiaryposting Results: Nadokwak

At time of writing this, there are only a couple depictions posted, so this might be a short one -- we'll see if others pop up later tonight. Maybe this bird just isn't that artistically inspiring.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can find an explanation and the rest of this series at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry our artist are working from for this post can be found here:

And the one for the next post, if you want to participate, is here:

Now, art below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) says the description put them in mind of waterfowl, which they gave a long neck and an erect posture for the effect of vigilance. Solid waterfowl; I really like the feather pattern on the neck. For more details on the design and its inspirations, see the linked post.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has drawn this really pleasant little scene, for which they credit Tove Jansson as stylistic inspiration. (I've got to read the Moomin books at some point; those little troll critters are always on my dashboard and I know nothing about them.) Genuinely delightful. Also note that the standing Nadokwak is holding a rock in its foot to stay awake while guarding the others.

So, the Aberdeen Bestiary:

This is, as you can probably guess from the image, the crane.

I don't have much to add to this one, other than that medieval Europeans really seemed to find cranes evocative. They're not on the level of, like, lions in terms of semiotic saturation, but they come up now and then, usually in a positive light.

I kept getting a sense of deja vu about this one, and Silverhart mentioned the same -- when I went to include one of my favorite Medieval Bird Factoids I think I figured out why. A previous entry, the Blisheag, is on a quite similar bird, and I had them confused.

Said Medieval Bird Factoid is not about cranes after all, so I'm going to leave this post here I suppose.

Very Good waterfowl (plus cute babies!) that I think just missed the cutoff again this week :)

Nadokwak

When I read that a bird flies in military formation, I think of Canada geese, a species I respect and have been menaced by (they wanted my chicken nuggies😔)

I decided to add some duck elements, and sibling suggested the wood duck. They also suggested the wing claws. Did you know that some birds have claws on their wings? Very cool.

The abstract background is just for fun.