Off the Beaten Path painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Off the Beaten Path, Jo-Ann Sanborn, 2011

acrylic on canvas, 16"x20"

It's always delightful to see our landscape anew through the eyes of our visitors.  Most are enchanted by our sunny skies and closeness to nature.  A group of bottle nose Dolphins with perfect timing visited our canal and put on a terrific feeding show just as my sister stepped out to the dock.  One with a large fish in it's mouth surfaced only feet away.  Time was short, but we visited Otter Mound and saw the gopher tortoises  and those cute little peanut shaped burrowing owls, two rare species that populate our sandy soil.  

We spent an afternoon walking (can't really call it a hike) in the Everglades, this time the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge.  Very close to Marco, the new Marsh Trail which I've written about before, makes a wonderful short trip.  A woodpecker greeted us from a tree along the trail.  A great blue heron flew right above our heads with a whoosh of wings, and we saw a great white heron with a nest nearly hidden among the verdant grasses.  

Installed binoculars on the viewing platform allowed us to watch the many and varied wading birds catching fish as if we were right there with them. 
Because we've had recent rains, the water level is still pretty high.  A small alligator basked on the edge of a fish-filled pool, and another rose and fell almost effortlessly in a deeper pool.  Small colorful butterflies accompanied us in the warm sunshine.  An osprey flew above a small pond rich with fish and swooped down to carry one off to the nest. 

The woodpecker cause great discussion later in the evening as some of our party insisted it was a Hairy Woodpecker and some the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker.  The birds are quite similar in size and coloration, and since both could be in South Florida at this time, and no one had a decent photo of the bird, no amount of research proved definative and the issue remain unsolved. 

Taking a break from painting for a couple of days now and then is restorative.  Deep breaths and delight in our natural environment are good for the soul.  I recommend getting out there soon. I'll have some new brochures in the studio if you need a map! 

Great Blue Heron, Still Waters daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Still Waters

5x7, acrylic on board

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This time of year in the frozen northland it's not unusual to see birds, but you wonder how they survive the cold and snow. Many New England birds will be viewed and counted and lectured about at the Cape Ann Birding Weekend in February.

Here in Southwest Florida we also have many birds. This time of year there are a lot of them, and many are quite large. Some migrate here here to spend the winter, others stopover on their journeys to elsewhere.

This morning as I poured my morning coffee a great blue heron flew down the canal. The sheer size of the bird catches my eye even though I'm only half awake. Because I've left the window open wide, I can hear the beat of wings, and I'm in awe.

The Great Blue Heron is one of the largest North American birds, and lives year round in much of the country, most often somewhere that water meets land. . They eat a varied diet and live in colonies of as many as 500 nests. There's a nice photo here.

Southern Birding, Ladies of the Morning Daily Painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Ladies of the Morning
7" x 5"

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Today's daily painting Ladies of the Morning was done in response to the wonderful yellow sunrise we had here yesterday. The palms looked as though they were just emerging from the golden glow infusing the landscape. Today's sunrise is nice, too, although not quite as dense and golden.

The song of the cardinal is coming from the nearby bird feeder. His mate hasn't been coming as often perhaps because she's nesting nearby. Soon after sunrise a horde of hungry grackles will appear, throwing food everywhere and squawking and arguing loudly. The Cornell Bird Guide calls their song "a harsh, unmusical "readle-eak," like a rusty gate. Call a sharp, harsh "chack."

Tne feeder-full a day is all they'll get. The doves, nesting in the nearby lusciously fragrant Confederate jasmine will come by to clean up the seeds that the grackles have thrown to the ground. I'm still waiting to see the finches come to feed, but know there are some around. The nijer seed was a complete failure since none of the birds liked it at all. Any suggestions for a feed the songbirds love but won't bring the noisy grackles?

Today I'll work on a new commission, a painting of the New York Mohawk Valley. I've begun to block it out by haven't really started to paint yet. Doing something other than the Everglades is a nice change once in a while and a bit of a challenge. I'll let you know how it's going!

Snowbirds, Two,a daily painting by Jo-Ann Sanborn

Here on Marco Island we have about three times more people in residence in the winter months than we do in the summer. The migrating snowbirds are people, not birds, usually gone by June first, and coming back in waves starting around October 1. We have several dear friends returning this week and some family coming in, too. Their return will begin a round of dinners, parties, festivals and other events to be enjoyed until the great migration north begins again.

It will start to feel a little crowded as the traffic increases and the grocery store lines get longer, but in reality Collier County, the largest County in Florida by land area, has approximately 80% of its land designated as some type of park or preserve. Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Rookery Bay, State Parks, a State Forest, the Audubon-owned Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and numerous County, City and private parks and nature preserves remain mostly natural. Although we live rather close together here on Marco Island, we have to travel only a short distance to several remote, natural areas where real birds are plentiful.

I've put these two palms in a wilderness setting in a sky the salmon color it was a few days ago for today's daily painting. Just the two of us sat watching as the light changed from day to evening.

Two
5" x 7"

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