Wetlands...in a Parking Lot?

Welcome to Waterside Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday...the day when we are encouraged to share our favorite photos of "watery" and outdoorsy things. A great big thanks to both Barbara Jacksier @ barbarajacksier.blogspot.com and Susan @ asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com for hosting these fun posts.


While on a mission to find subjects for my paintings, I came across
a wetlands area, smackdab in the middle of a parking lot.
Thankfully, whoever designed this massive area reserved for cars had the foresight to leave this bit of nature for all to enjoy. On this particular morning, the pond was teeming with wildlife...10 varieties of wading birds, ducks, coots, and turtles. There was a family of osprey nesting in a tree and I'm sure that somewhere in the march grasses, a gator was hiding. (Gators are in almost every Florida pond!) It was a glorious day!






Below is a bird which captured my attention. He posed for me for several minutes, then turned to give me a different profile. I sometimes wonder if these creatures actually know I am photographing them. They always appear to be moving around so I can get their "best" side. The turtles, however, seem to sense my presence and race for the water. I'm not particularly interested in "shooting" a gator...the fake one from last week's post was more than enough for me!


And here is the rough beginning of his "portrait".
There's still much to do! I'll post the finished project when it's complete.















In the meantime, here are a couple of my bird paintings from our house collection...













This guy was actually scratching himself...
I have the photo from which this painting evolved hanging in my bedroom. It's one of my favorites!








This lovely is "Bubba the Egret" ( one of my earliest attempts at painting birds)... He reminds me of the beggar at the Casa Tina restaurant in Dunedin. Each day, Bubba comes to the backdoor alley entrance, begging for food. He's quite partial to fried pork... I find that rather interesting because Casa Tina specializes in vegetarian cuisine! Shouldn't they be feeding him tofu?

Please visit all the other Waterside Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday posts. There are always beautiful things to see and to inspire...

I hope you enjoyed visiting the wetlands and my paintings. It is truly a pleasure to read your comments and thoughts.
Jane