Dudley Whitney For each of the past 38 years my partner, Jane Ashley, has given me a pencil ... in drawing and painting birds and their nests as my sister started to share her wonderful photos.

With a few basic tips you can begin to draw the creatures around you, and remember the joy they bring. By Clare Walker Leslie If you enjoy watching birds floating ... need is a pencil and paper.

And for more pictures that deserve more than a second glance, check out these superb hyper-real pencil drawings that look just like photos.