Egret

Little EgretOil on Canvas40 x 40cm or 16 x 16 inThe tide is just on the turn, a little Egret stands motionless.  Oystercatchers and Kittiwakes cries echo down the creek, the only sounds to break the silence.  The estuary mud lies waiting for the water to return, there is an air of anticipation.

Here is another painting (pictured in progress) in my studio. It’s a snowy egret that I was able to watch on the beach catching minnows in Florida earlier this year (see my ‘Bad Hair Day‘ post…). I started the miniature painting during the NatureWorks show in Tulsa…painting in my family’s booth. [...]

  Here is another painting (pictured in progress) in my studio. It’s a snowy egret that I was able to watch on the beach catching minnows in Florida earlier this year (see my ‘Bad... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Great Egret Ardea alba, also known as the Great White Egret, White Heron, or Common Egret, is a wading egret, found in most of the tropical and warmer temperate parts of the world,although it is very local in southern Europe and Asia. It is called Kōtuku in New Zealand. It is sometimes confused with the Great White Heron in Florida, which is a white morph of the Great Blue Heron.The Great Egret is a large bird with all white plumage that can reach 101 cm in height and weigh up to 950 g. It is only slightly smaller than the Great Blue or Grey Herons. Apart from size, the Great Egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet. It also has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes

  "Serenade of Light - Great Egret" - 4 1/2 x 3 3/4 This painting is at the Seaside Art Galleries 17th International Miniature Art Show  -  May 5, 2008 - May 31, 2008. 

Family: ArdeidaeHabitat: Found in actively grazed pastures and grasslands; also on lawns or along roadsides, and occasionally in marshes or flooded agricultural fields (A.O.U. 1998).Distribution: Breeding range extends from central California, eastern Oregon, southern Idaho, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, the Great Lakes region, northern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maine south to Baja California, Mexico, the Gulf coast, and Florida. Generally winters from Florida, the Gulf coast states, coastal Texas, and western Oregon and northern California south throughout its breeding range (A.O.U. 1998).Field Marks: Of the three typically white egrets (Cattle, Snowy, and Great Egrets), the Cattle egret is the smallest. In breeding season, note orangish feathers on crown, back, and lower neck; bill and leg color also more red or reddish-orange at this time of year. During the non-breeding season, bill and legs are yellowish in color. Compare also with immature Little Blue Heron.Nest Habits: Breeds

Family: ArdeidaeHabitat: Found in marshes, ponds, and lakes; also in lagoons and other shallow coastal habitats (A.O.U. 1998).Distribution: Breeds south of a line running from eastern Oregon and northern California through southeastern Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, northeastern Wisconsin, southern Ontario, and northwestern Ohio, to the Atlantic coast (north to Maine); breeding range extends south into Baja California and Mexico. Generally winters from northern California, southwestern Arizona, the Gulf coast, and coastal South Carolina south throughout its breeding range (A.O.U. 1998). Post-breeding dispersal in late summer and early fall results in birds appearing at inland locations far north of their breeding range.Field Marks: Snowy white plumage, dark legs, black bill, and yellow feet (sometimes called golden slippers). Smaller than Great Egret.Nest Habits: Breeds in colonies, usually in association with other herons and egrets. Nest is placed on the ground or, more typically,

Family: ArdeidaHabitat: Found in fresh- and salt-water habitats, along lakes, rivers, streams, lagoons and estuaries, and on mudflats; occasionally forages in agricultural fields.Distribution: Breeding range extends from central Washington and southern Idaho south into California, Nevada, southwestern Arizona, Baja California, and Mexico; also from southwestern Manitoba, South Dakota, central Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, southern Ontario, southwestern Quebec, and New England south to Florida and the Gulf states, and west to eastern Colorado and southern New Mexico. Winter range extends southward from a line running from coastal Oregon and northern California through central Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas and the Gulf coast region to coastal Maryland; occasionally found further north in winter (A.O.U. 1998).Field Marks: Large, all white heron, with black legs and large, yellowish bill. At a distance, compare with Snowy Egret, which is smaller and has a black bill.Nest Ha

This is how my Snowy Egret painting is looking right now.  The painting is very subtle and has a lot of very soft color tones in it - unfortunately the richness of the color in the habitat and some of the accents in the egret are not showing up well in this scan.  When I [...]

This is a sketch of a snowy egret that was fishing a little area between the boulders on the beach for a little lunch in the Daytona Beach/New Smyrna Beach area of Florida.  Some of my friends put up with me and my sister chasing all of the shorebirds down the beach with cameras. ..

Ok, so I’m sitting down to make a comment on this new book and movie out called “The Secret.”  As if that Tom Hanks movie about Michangelo’s codes, oh yeah . . . the da Vinci implode, wasn’t bad enough on my brain vessels, our culture has produced another high-priced method to achieve happiness . . . bullshit, pardon my Francais.  Watching Larry King tonight I learned from the Secret’s author that the book is about a “law of nature” called ‘attraction.’  If we have unwanted stuff in our lives, it’s because we attracted it.  Heaven help me for not turning the channel at that moment.  He went on to say that when we say, believe, and act on our dreams, they will become real with time . . .  YA KNOW?  I liked this better before when it was THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING by Norman Vincent Peale.  It was also better in the skin of “Possibility Thinking” by Reverend Schuller.  Rollo May’s seminal work

Xiamen (Amoy) is located along the southeast coast of Fujian Province. Formerly an isolated island, it was linked with the mainland after the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949 by the construction of Jimei and Xinglin causeways. Perhaps because of its shape or because it used to be a habitat of white egrets, [...]