White is a signal, not an absence
Record the unbarred breast separately from the soft slate shadow carried by each feather.
PLATE / 01
Observation protocol
Four field marks that hold in hard weather
The eye fixes the whole reading
One clear lemon-yellow iris gives the cold field its only warm, decisive point of reference.
PLATE / 02
Barring tells a more useful story
Fine charcoal marks across the crown and wings make age and individual variation legible at distance.
PLATE / 03
Leave room for the weather
A pale blue-grey ground keeps every note readable without mistaking the tundra for a blank page.
PLATE / 04