Editor's Column: Birds, Birds, Birds!

Wildfowl carving may seem like a pretty specific niche, but it has a surprisingly broad reach. Take this issue, for example. We cover the world of decoys with Tom McCollum’s bufflehead project, take a look at songbirds in Painting Notes, demonstrate three different habitats in the conclusion of Tom Park’s redpoll series, and even discuss how to make realistic-looking rust in Tom Baldwin’s demo. On top of that, we have spoonbill reference, a hen wood duck demo, and Del Herbert’s explanation of how to make laminated shorebird bills. That covers a lot of ground!

I saw perhaps the best example of wildfowl carving’s diversity in April at the Ward World Championship in Ocean City, Maryland. You are never going to see a greater variety of carvings than you’ll find on the tables at the Ward. There was truly something for everybody at the show, whether you love antique-style decoys or songbirds with the most intricate habitat imaginable.