Back home back at work

Back at home. Jekyll and the Golden Isles have been shrouded in fog and rain. On Tuesday, I went to explore a new birding path on Jekyll. Well, it is not really new. It used to be the best place to watch feeding shorebirds. Today the marsh is reclaiming it and I wonder if it is still has the same value to the birds.The tide was going out. These birds are following a school of fish out to the river.

It was fascinating to watch as the birds scramble for the best place.

Nostalgic

Now here is one last photo from Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. Please forgive me for being nostalgic. When I saw this gentleman, I had to take a picture. It reminded me of a time not so long ago. It’s just a memory, neither bitter nor sweet. We all need to be reminded of where we have come from and where we are going. For what is new and flashy today will be a memory soon enough. Time flies when you are living life!

Home again

Just a quick note to say I had a great time at Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival. This is a huge job and these guys do it in style.

Now, I have trotted home. Getting back to my many jobs. I will leave you with a couple of images taken while I was down in Titusville.

A few days of living on the road

Living on the road feels so natural. I know a good many people who live full time in RVs. Birds can do that to you. One day you are a normal person living a normal life. Then one bird sparks that curiosity and you are hooked. You are collecting maps and looking for those off the beaten path places becomes a way of life.
So here I am in Titusville with others who have been hooked. Birders are all around at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival! There are birders who have been birding for years and brand new birders. It is good to see them all. Now it has been cold but I have been camping all cocooned in my van at night. I've done a little birding but I been mostly at by booth...Artworks by Lydia. When I traveled year back. It was just you, the road and birds. In order to stay in touch, you had to find a pay phone. The computer has put a new slant to my travel.

I am off on a wing and a pray

Well I arrived at Space Coast safe and sound. It took a couple of hours dithering around. The panels are up should the table go on the right or on the left I like to sit in the display and be able to look both ways. I enjoy watching birders and non-birders at festivals. It is fascinating to find how many people tell me they are not birdwatcher. After a few minutes of talking to them, I am sure, they would soon become birders. The birder bug is only one bird away. Just one bird and they will be off on a wild ride of discovery. There is a whole world out there not just birds but also bugs, plants and all kind of nature to take you to the far corners of the world. Just ask my friend Debbie Shearwater, she found shearwaters fascinating and off she went. She is set up here at Space Coast with Shearwater Adventures. Right now, she is preparing an adventure to Antarctica, penguins, icebergs and amazing frozen world. Debbie is an amazing guide. She infects you with the wonder of the natural world.
Anyway, I even had a sale! This nice lady recognized my work. She bought a piece of my years ago. She told me that the art has been moved from place to place. In each new town, it has a special place. Wow, that is the great complement!
I close shop and went to my campsite. I travel on a shoe sting and camping is a great way to shave cost. I am used to living on the road. I seemed to spend at least part of my adult live going somewhere, camping makes it easier to travel. So I am now all snug as a bug in my old van. It has been a good day.

You Rang?

Here is a new etching. It is a Common Yellowthroat (COYE). It was inspired by my friend Priscilla. She wanted to see a COYE. It would give her a glimpse here and there but no really good look. I told her to be patience. She was amazed one day when she on a walk to see one at eye level. Patience pays.

See you at Space Coast.

Piping Plovers on the beach

What is it about Piping Plovers? Sanderling are about the same color and size but they only get smiles and comments about how they scurry down the beach. But they see a Piping Plovers, the birds get "oo" and "awe." On Friday Jan 16, I found three hunkered down on the beach. The fourth bird is a Sanderling.

Here is one of the three Piping Plovers starting to search of food at the ocean's edge.

Shorebirds one day and art the next

Well yesterday I was helping count shorebirds on Sea Island. Capt. Clay was a great driver. We saw American Oystercatchers, Willets, and Piping Plovers just to name a few birds.

Today I was in my etching studio. The Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival is next week and I have to print. While doing this, I thought I would show you how to print an etching.

First ink the zinc plate

Then wipe the excess ink off the plate

Put the plate on the press place a damp sheet of 100% rag paper over the plate

The paper and the plate are run through the press and here is the image.

Here is another plate I pulled today.


It is call Dancing Water Spirits. Tree Swallows drinking water at the south end of Jekyll inspired the image. It is just hard to seperate my birding and my art.

EEK! Life is a blur

EEK! Sorry about being so quiet. Life has been a blur of birding, surveys and art. I've been working on a couple of new etchings for the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival January 21-25. If you are down there, please stop by my Artworks by Lydia booth and say hello.

Now what we did today. Birding!

The weather forecast scared me. It was supposed to be bone-chilling cold so I put on triple layers. The surprise was it was not that bad. In fact it was a beautiful day starting at 39 degrees and by noon it was 60 degrees.

The interesting part of the morning was what we found on Glory Beach (southeast side of Jekyll Island.) There was a HUGE number of cannonball jelly fish washed up. See!

The Dunlins, Ruddy Turnstones, Willets and gulls were on beach clean up patron. Fascinating.