One of the things that I love most about my chosen profession is that I get to combine the activities and things that I enjoy into paintings. Yesterday morning's activities included a landscape photoshoot in an old quarry in the everglades. Combining photography with exploring the outdoors and incorporating some of those photos into the backgrounds of my paintings is like a dream come true. Seriously, I love my job! The cicadas were singing and one could hear the throaty sound of a distant alligator. The old quarry is the perfect setting for my current series of work because of its expansive views of the sky, distant trees and multiple lakes. It's truly a beautiful location. Here are a couple of shots of interesting wildlife and other tidbits we ran into while my husband and I were hiking!
I was walking towards a lake off the path and this bird, a nightjar?, suddenly flew up and then hit the ground hissing. I immediately stopped as I was sure she was trying to attract my attention away from her hidden nest and I didn't want to disturb them anymore than I already had.
Sure enough, a couple of feet from where I was standing was her single chick! I'm so glad she was there as I might have easily stepped on it! The dew was still on the ground spiderwebs and this little chick, as still as can be, looked just like them. A couple of hours later on our way back I checked in on her; she had returned to the nest and all was well.
Fossilized shells littered the ground where the bedrock was exposed.
Florida's enormous Orange 4" grasshoppers! Every time I see these giants I can't get over how huge they are compared to the ones I grew up seeing every summer in Ohio.