Rites of Spring

Since the Black Bear painting that I was working on has been relegated to the recycle bin, I'll post a blog about something less frustrating. I'll celebrate the arrival of Spring with some photos of the season. Right now I'm working on a Snow Goose painting that I started last December but I got discouraged with the tedium of painting Snow Geese, and set it aside. Melding the subtle tonal values of white birds in the background with white birds in the middle and foreground is difficult, and time consuming. So I picked it up again  yesterday with a belief that it had to be less frustrating than the bear painting.

Right now is the time for the arrival of shorebirds. Pectoral, and Least Sandpipers.

Pectoral Sandpipers and a Short-billed Dowitcher.

Mallards are the first ducks to nest.

While Mallards are nesting, Greater Scaup are still courting. The poor hen in the center, has to endure the relentless pursuit of numerous drakes.

These Red-necked Grebes are building their floating nest.

This Mew Gull incubates her eggs in a Spruce Tree.

It's not wise to get too close to a cow Moose with a calf. I am not wise.

This calf wandered the woods searching for it's mother. I followed from a distance as it wandered onto the campus of the University of Alaska, Anchorage, where it found it's mother waiting beside the Administration Buildling.