Only a week in to Spring and here we have more babies!

I was pretty psyched about finding two young Barred Owl unexpectedly.

This was the first one I saw, waaaay up there in a tall tree…

I was especially surprised to find the second one, in another tree, too hidden by leaves and shadows to bother with a photo. But so cute to view with binoculars!

Then, I figured with two babies about, the parents could not be far off. I looked for a long time and eventually found one on the outskirts of the park. Majestic!

We are fortunate to have a Great Egret rookery in a lovely little park in the middle of town. The park is in a neighborhood, with the majority of the nests being in a tree that is hanging over the road, and up against power lines. Sometimes, I’m just like, really birds? This is the best you could do? But whatever, now I get to enjoy them. The park also has a lot of nesting Anhinga, and I noticed one Great Blue Heron nest with chicks in it.

The adult above is in all it’s beauty of breeding colors and plumage.

An egg fallen to the ground. Beautiful color!

The beautiful Sandhill Crane’s are common around here. I love Spring, when the pairs start nesting and turning up with adorable little yellow chicks. Then you get to watch them grow all Spring and Summer. Of course the first few weeks are the best, I could watch these babes all day…

Nest No. 32 is an American Robin. For the nest I used flowers I pressed while I was in North Carolina last fall. It was so exciting to open my flower press and see all these lovelies inside!

I am working on so much new art! In the meantime, here are a few bird photos from an overcast day at Merritt Island…

Nest No. 31 is a Mockingbird. This was a request from my last craft show. Pastel for Spring!

The Mockingbird is one of the few birds I see every single day without fail. They are incredibly fond of the old orange groves on my road.

p.s. The print the is in the shop!

Nest No. 30 is a Blue Gray Gnatcatcher.

The Blue Gray Gnatcatcher is a tiny little bird, only about 4″ in length. Several times I have been asked if they are baby birds… no, just super tiny! They are common around here, busily chatting and feeding at the tops of the trees.

This is a shot from my desk this weekend. I am currently working on bird nest paintings, animal/bird portraits on small plaques, and wedding invitation designs.

Here are some little paintings of bird sightings at Merritt Island.