Sunday, April 13, 2008

Photos from Ormond Beach, Florida


Just a few photos while I'm sorting and resizing and deciding which ones to choose to paint! This first was the view from our diningroom table - each meal was spent sitting and watching the waves roll in. The first few days were windy and chilly and wet but by Wednesday the sun broke through and stayed.






The beach was a cinnamon color but soft sand and easy walking. The water was a bit nippy over your feet (I did not go into the water).


Squadrons of pelicans flew over every day, north and then south, but I could never get a great photo of them.



And the main reason we go to that area of Florida is to visit the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine to see the nesting birds. They have great white egrets, snowy egrets, tricolor herons, little blue herons, wood storks, and other birds, all preening and building nests and watching over eggs and feeding squawking babies. It's quite a sight!































And the Alligator Farm is named for the dozens of species of alligators that call the place home. And the number of alligators in the water and on land underneath all the trees are why the birds nest and raise their young there. Why? The gators keep out all other predators and the gators often get a snack in return (yes, the birds often lose a chick in nature's way: they often have 2-3 chicks and the weakest one will be tossed out so the strongest survive and grow).


Ok, back to laundry....

8 comments:

Sandy Maudlin said...

Sure glad you came back north and hope some of that sunny warm weather will follow you. Great pix of the birds and alligators, too. Looking forward to seeing what all you paint from them.

Joan Sandford-Cook said...

Had fun trawling your recent postings and look forward to the planned paintings. Great photos in Florida.

Ann Buckner said...

Enjoyed seeing your photos and reading about how you spent some of your time. I bet you already have some photos chosen for your next painting. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Watercolors by Susan Roper said...

Those gators look a great deal like the grouping you painted last year! Glad you are back and joining in blogdom fun again.

Susan

About said...

Yummy pics! What a great place to visit. That big white bird (snowy egret?) is just beautiful! Really looking forward to seeing more pics!!

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks so much, Sandy, Joan, Ann, and Susan! It's good to be back :) And I realized I should have made these photos into a slide show so will do that with the next batch so they are easier to view. I do have some good reference photos to use for future paintings now!
Susan, there is a Florida artist who does great gators in pastel colors (not what you'd expect). I have to find her name...

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks, Tracy! It was a lovely trip after mid-week when the weather cleared and now it's back to reality! haha

Suzanne McDermott said...

Holy Cow, Rhonda! I haven't been by your blog lately but was just enjoying your vacation photos. I saw the pic you took of the beach in this series and could hardly believe my eyes. Go look at the image I have posted on 4/18. I painted it around the 8th of the month. You won't believe it!