birdie on gulf coast beach

little birdie in north carolina

watch this

murder discussion

canada goose

bald eagles, live

From Decorah, Iowa, comes this 24/7 webcam of a bald eagle nest. More info here. But, really, the most interesting thing is just watching the nest.


Live video chat by Ustream

spring water

go!

Seagull Shadow

sleep here

Feather Bed

sunday activities

Sailing

another roommate

Joey, the Conure

collage

7 inches wide x 7 inches high

Central embroidered parrot is a mola from Panama. The feathers are from an actual parrot, a conure named Joey who came to live with me this week. See him here:

mobile bay

Hello, Birders! Tell me, what kind of heron is this? And does it really have only one foot?!

sunday relaxation

South of Beaumont, Texas, on the way to the beach on the Gulf of Mexico, is this little place called High Island, because it is a salt dome bump on the land that is higher than the landscape around it. And there is a Houston Audubon Society site. These roseate spoonbills and cormorants were doing their Sunday things. Check out the bathing beauties in the middle there.

Also relaxing nearby was this alligator who sat so still and so patiently than a dragonfly sat on his head for a little while. The alligator kept hold of that stick in his mouth for a long while, too.

one more pink thing

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Canaveral National Seashore, and the Kennedy Space Center share much of the same soggy, sandy landscape on the Atlantic Ocean shore. Many birds live here, too, dodging pesticides and rockets, including the roseate spoonbill, seen here hanging out between preening itself and fishing.

owls, continued progress

Plate #15

Parliament of Owls

collage

7 inches wide x 5.5 inches high, two-page spread

In this unfinished—yet—collage project, there are 35 two-page spreads, plus outside covers. See this previous post for more.

birds and ice

One view today of Lake Ontario.

And the birds.

in progress

Plate #8

Parliament of Owls

collage

7 inches wide x 5.5 inches high, two-page spread

The theme for The Sketchbook Project, put together by The Art House Co-op in Atlanta, Georgia, is Everyone We Know. I have collected just about everyone I know into a group of owls, called a parliament. They guide me, love me, frustrate me, bore me, enjoy me, elate me, and mostly keep me sane.

optical game

Cartographers have always known that the direction of light on a topographical object affects how we see it, whether it is seen as a mountain or a hole in the ground.

Here is a wonderful example of this.  These are goose footprints as I photographed them on the Lake Ontario shore the other day.

And here is what they look like turned 180°. Pretty cool, eh?

today's encounters

Mule Deer on the top, Pelican on the bottom; all on the Missouri River in the Lake Holter area.




























And what kind of snake is this? We each took a look at each other and went our separate ways.

red crows

Red Crows: Work in Progress

about 6 inches high x 11 inches wide

fiber

Every fourth friday of each month, there is a challenge issued for those of us who had signed up for it. The point is to make us think about the elements of art and to create something from fabric/fiber to fulfill a particular theme. The last two themes have been about recycling, the latest using denim. I don't like working with denim. It's heavy and bulky; it frays and spills lint everywhere. This piece is made of lightweight denim, stamped and sewn. The thing isn't finished; I'm deciding on how to bring in grass-like something so that the crows are standing on or in it. And the middle is too much in the middle, pulling the eye nowhere or off the piece completely. More of my fiber creations are at the Fast Friday site here, as are pieces made by the other participants (you'll need to click on "show all posts" to see everyone else's.