Sleepy, Happy, & Dopey (the story of how I came to be a Lizard mom)

Back in November I started a painting during the Nicholas Simmons Workshop.  It was of Koi's, which I had thought about painting for a long time.  It is a subject that a lot of artists paint and one of the reasons I had not already done it.  I had the feeling that its been done so many time that it is better to focus my ideas on more original ideas which have not already been over-done.

This was the beginning and all I accomplished in the class was to put color in the background.  This one shows the "resist" which had been painted in to block out color allowing for wetting the background and loosely flowing in the liquid acrylic in a very wet watercolor way.

Speaking of color wouldn't this be spectacular in a painting.  I used to do a lot of florals but since moving here I moved onto other subjects.  This is one of the flowers that the Orchid vendor at the Farmers Market brings.  His orchids are always so beautiful, one of my favorite flowers, and unfortunately I have murdered many of them as I have attempted to grow them.  They do fine until I bring them indoors for the winter.  But when I do succeed in getting one of them to re-bloom I am happy.

This beauty is one of the several doves which have returned to our yard after being thinned out considerably last year by Mr. Hawk who liked to catch them, then sit out there and pluck them in my yard or on top of hubby's car before dining.

Little Chickadee looks at me quizzically as I snap its photo.  I wish I had Bluebirds like my friend Sabrina has on her feeder but mostly I have Chickadees, Titmouses, along with the Doves, a few Cardinals and an assortment of Woodpeckers.  There are so many beautiful marsh birds around that I take for granted the yard birds.

An off shore fog is a hint of what the week holds as, although warmer, it has been very foggy, cloudy, and rainy not allowing the temperatures to reach the predicted highs and making it seem pretty cool.  There have been a few open-door days mixed in though.

Fins sticking out of the water are sometimes an ominous sight for those not able to distinguish between the fellows with which you don't mind swimming and the ones to be avoided.  This is the time of year when great schools of large sharks gather for some sort of migration further south of us.  These fellows though, are our own Bottle Nose Dolphins.

They are swimming with only one fin sticking up and swim by diving and playing on the surface whereas a shark would travel in more of a straight line and you would see both the dorsal fin and the tail sticking up at the same time.  These dolphins were enjoying the end of the day.  I wonder if they could see the pink on the water like I could.

The sunset's pink washed both the off shore fog and the beach.  I am getting ready to do a couple of commission pieces, one of the beach and one of the marsh.  I am trying to gather material to make it perfect for the client and for me to also enjoy painting.

This unusual pattern stopped me for a minute as I puzzled over it origin.  I finally decided it was the beak marks of one of the shore birds as it examined the sand for edible items.

I finally had time, with the finishing of the two Orlando commissions and the Sea Turtle commission to get back to working on the Koi.  I wanted to get this one finished before I start the other two pieces.  I added the color to the third fish then adding color to the leaves of the bamboo.  The technique I had learned from Nicholas was a time consuming process of layer after layer of color.  Since it was acrylic I could let it dry for a while then wash it off with a strong stream of water leaving the dried part intact.  This may sound strange but it gives a very interesting effect which looks a lot like a piece of batiked fabric.

I went to Jacksonville on Monday to deliver paintings to the Hemming Plaza Jewelry Store to be a part of the JAX art walk.  I learned one thing "don't ever expect people to look at art in a jewelry shop".  There is just no way to compete with case after case of beautiful baubles.  On the way back in my search to find Bird Island I drove out to where I thought it was at the Pumpkin Hill State Park Wildlife Preserve.  This place is worth exploring even if it wasn't Bird Island.  It was a bit isolated so not somewhere I wanted to linger too long by myself.

It had the prospect of being a good birding area though but so far away that I would need binoculars to really see them.  There are three different species in this photograph.

This is Sleepy, our newest charge.  I found him laying on the concrete of my front porch on Monday as I started to leave.  I thought it was dead but when I picked it up the back legs moved slightly.  I put it in the cage which was formerly inhabited by Charles the Monarch.  It was pretty lifeless but managed at bedtime to turn bright green which Lisa says signals that he is happy.  I think it is also part of being warm and sleepy and the time of day seems to play a big part.

Morning brought back the grey color and some slight movement when touched and by the next day Sleepy even raised its head slightly.  I misted it with water a couple of time a day along with adding a climbing stick and a bunch of Spanish Moss to the cage to help hold moisture and give him some of the nature like things which would normally be in its environment.   The little Green Anole is our only native Anole.  There is a danger that they will be over run by an invasive species, the Cuban Anole, which is a bit larger and more aggressive then these little fellows.

Wednesdays beach walk was partly to check the turtle nest and think about the composition for the commission piece which is to be a sunrise with a couple of people on the beach showing our beautiful wide beach and dune grasses.  I worked on trying to see how that could be accomplished .  Of course the colors will be different but the view will work with taller grasses in the foreground.

These hardy little plants seem to be pushing up everywhere and the bottom leaves turn such a bright yellow that on first glance you would think they were blooms.  To grow on the beach takes a plant that is adapted to sand, salt and weather different from the normal lawn.     I added the color on the fish by lightly dampening the fish and taking a brush dipped in a fairly strong mix of orange acrylic paint and dabbing the color stipple like with the tip of the brush into the damp surface letting the water blend the color into a texture which gave the impression of a scaly surface.

More layers of color on the leaves and adding color in a wash around the edges of the wet fish so that it begins to make the fish look as if they are down in the water rather then stuck on top.  Colors are added to the fish to make them take on more dimension.  I continue to work on the whole piece as I feel it needs to be changed.  I began to eliminate what had started out to be two other yellow fish underneath the three.  They were just not working so I began to build color up over them to make them part of the underneath of the pond.

Sleepy was making slow progress as I test each morning and afternoon to see if he is indeed alive.  By Thursday evening it (not sure if it is a he or she although the consensus after talking to my know it all about all living things friend, Lisa, that it is probably a "he").  It is my belief that Sleepy was just in a state of hibernation and was confused by the weather.  Still pretty lethargic I let him sit on my leg to try to warm up a bit and also to try to tempt him to eat the cricket placed in front of him.  His head up and alert he was not moving except to slightly change positions when touched but was turning his head to follow sounds from the TV and computer.

By last night he was perky enough to be moving around in the cage and had started to lick the water I sprayed into his cage.  By tonight he was climbing all around the cage and hopefully finding one of the many baby crickets running around in his cage kind of like meals on wheels.  The weather is too cold right now for Sleepy to be released.  As soon as it warms up he will go back into the wild to live a normal life in his own habitat.  Right now he seems to be in good shape.  Lisa says that, like people, lizards need UV rays to be able to process their food especially their calcium.  However since it is too gloomy, cold and damp to put him outside for now I have been leaving him underneath a strong halogen desk lamp all day which keeps him warm as well as lighted.  It seems to be agreeing.  He stays in my bedroom bath at night, which has our small heater, a situation he no doubt appreciates.  Not a bad life for a lizard who a few days ago was laying comatose on the front porch in the cold.  I seem to do better with living critters than with Orchids.

I spent most of the day working on the Koi painting.  Mostly working on the water giving it the appearance of having ripples and light reflecting on top of the fish.  I added the illusion of rocks underneath the surface on the bottom of the pool also with some of the lighter shapes that were left in the water that seemed to not belong.  As rocks they work quite well I think.  It still has a way to go but is starting to get the feeling that the end is not too far away.    A busy week for sure and Sunday is a day off to catch up on bookkeeping, housekeeping chores, laundry, (Sleepy may be my name after all that), watch the Super Bowl, then an exciting day trip on Monday to a place I have never been but have always wanted to visit.  I'll take lots of photos and fill you in when I return.

Part 1 of the story Wild Wild Life at Merrit Island National Refuge

(Sleepy is a Florida Green Anole found on my doorstep in a comatose condition) Well, Sleepy is not sleepy any more.  She/he is quite the energetic little fellow.  Name change being applied for; am saying "Happy", although Bruce has settled on the name Lewis Lizzard in memory of one of our favorite comics of all time.  Of course it may be that would have to be changed to Louise Lizzard if it becomes apparent that eggs are on the way.

Looking very much like a bandito with the mask of dry skin which in now almost gone except for one piece which looks now like a giant eyelash flapping in the breeze.  Lewis quickly ate two, then shortly afterward a third, when we dropped some new naive crickets into the den.  The ones in there have become wary and are hiding down in the mosses.  Of course Lewis is now tracking them down even in there.  Maybe "Killer" is a more appropriate name.  I am now feeling guilty about the small confines of the cage but can't boot the fish out for bigger quarters for a temporary resident.  It would seem that caring for a reptile is much easier then a Blue Jay or a Squirrel and definetly easier than a Butterfly.

And, Voila, Painting "Koi Pond" is finished and has already found a new home!

Now on to: Wild Wildlife Refuge My much anticipated trip to Merritt Island National Nature Refuge did take place as planned yesterday.  The drive took a bit longer than anticipated partially due to traffic accidents and faulty directions.  We found the South side of the park but since that part is closed to the public because it is the NASA Headquarters we were not allowed what would have been a short cut across their property.  Obviously we were not the only ones since the congenial guard bartered directions in exchange for a cookie, direction which were so thorough the first line instructed us to do a "U" turn around the guard station.  After a stop at the visitor's center for this very unique island, which holds some of the world's greatest technology and one of the greatest nature preserves.  As we listened to the park folks' recommendations, we plotted our plan of action.  Mostly it is a driving tour but with hardly any traffic, we were free to spend as much time as we wished photographing the sights. Our first route was Peacock Road which swung around the back side of the visitors center and was about 6 miles or so of narrow dirt road with water on both sides most of the time.  The first critter we encountered was this very busy Alligator.

It is my belief that Mrs. Gator was laying eggs right in the hole she had dug out of the bank.  A great place with morning sun and next to the water so an easy trek for transferring her babies when they hatched.  She will cover this with a mound of dirt and leaves and wait to hear the grunts of her little ones, so she can assist them in getting out of the nest and carefully deposit them into the water in her mouth.  Unlike most reptiles she will take care of her offspring.  Even with this care the survival rate is low.

She seems to have a determined look but a nice smile as she works toward achieving her goal, ignoring the stares of tourists.

Not being a birder I don't know what this little fellow is but we saw lots of them.  It had such a sweet face that it would make a great character in a children's book.

As we said goodbye to the Hammock area we commented on the great variety of plants we found there.  The park is also holds a huge variety of plants as well as being in the flyover path for so many migrating birds.

Ahead lay an area that might be described as a coastal savannah if that is a proper terminology for this type of landscape.  Lush and delicate marsh grasses with great color combinations stood before us.

The lush greens, the darker greens of palm fronds, and even darker, richer greens of the hammock area behind were a visual treat.  This view was so great against the blue sky, with the fluffy clouds instead of the dark rainy ones we had seen at home for the past couple of weeks, and was soaked into our retinas.  We had dressed in layers anticipating that the weather man was credible when he said that it would be nice temps and sunshine at the Cape.  There was a 60 percent chance of showers and by the end of the day we were very glad to have those layers we shed early on, still sitting in the wings on standby.

As water lay on either side of our ever narrowing road I spotted a younger Alligator sunning on my side of the automobile.  He was fairly large but still young enough to retain some of his baby stripes on its sides and tail.

Not so docile, and determined to hold his ground, he was "quicker than a flash", into the water at the sound of car doors opening.  We hoped he was content to stay in the water since this was different then the Alligator Farm where gators are in enclosed areas.  This is all wild and wooly open territory.

I created a composite panorama with the computer, wider then my camera will allow so you can see the vastness of this great area.

Mostly palm trees lay before us with Cape Canaveral in the distant background beyond the row of trees on the horizon.  The large building is where the Space Shuttle is housed and readied for launch.  It is tall enough to allow the Shuttle to be suspended vertically for the work.  Amazing this example of how well nature can coexist with technology.

The further we go the road becomes less and less and the water more and more.  We had encountered another vehicle twice and not a pleasant chore when the pickup truck is one of those big ones.  We were questioning just how soft the road's shoulder was, with our wheels very close to the dropoff.

Our first big bird encounter is a worthwhile one as I spot a flock of Glossy Ibis.  Unlike the White Ibis we usually find around Fernandina  Beach these fellows are almost black with the irridescence of a firey opal in the light as the colors reflected from the sun off their feathers, in all the colors of the rainbow.

Although they are not common in our area I spotted and photographed some out at Oyster Bay a couple of years ago.

They were soon joined by their fairer feathered White Ibis cousins.  They all join in a poking and prodding of the bottom of the channel for lunch.

Overhead a familiar sight with a Woodstork in flight.  These have become a common sight in our area and their description is usually prefaced by something which contains the word "ugly" and usually in reference to their leathery bald big-beaked head but in flight they are a thing of grace and beauty.

I only spotted one variety of butterfly, no Monarchs that's for sure.  This was a very pretty and dainty looking one with beautiful pastel colors.  There was a hint of blue on the top side but impossible for me to capture because as soon as it lit it closed up its wings.

A new bird for me is this Gallinule; not the fancy colored Purple Gallinule my friend Sabrina just saw down at Delray Beach area, but a nice bird for me to see, nevertheless.

An old and favored friend is the Tri-Colored Heron.  It is a treat to see these birds, (which I have observed mostly at The Alligator Farm, in their courting, nesting and chick raising rituals), out in their everyday world doing what most wild critters do, hunting for food and survival.  The Tri-Colored is so graceful as it does it little hunting dance.

Probably my favorite of all the birds in the Marsh here, is this one, the Little Blue Heron.  Lately, I see fewer of them and they seem so much more elusive, that it is a treat to find one.  Although totally blue in color the sun brings out a purplish hue especially in the neck area. This is only part of the trip around this great Nature Refuge so it will have to be continued over into another episode but that is the way with new places, much to digest and share.  My thanks to my good friend and fellow photographer Lea Gallardo for the invite that allowed me to share this great experience with her.  Having a companion of like mindedness is a treat in itself when out on one of the great adventures.  You can laugh at your screw ups and ooh and aah together when something wonderful happens and you can eat two donuts in one sitting as you drive to the next part of the adventure and each blame the other for the lapse in dietary restraint.

End of the Road/Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge continued.

As our journey continued around the little dirt road our next bird sighting was this tiny island filled to the brim with several bird species, some White Ibis, a Great White Egret, and the Little Blue Heron.  

I was really enjoying seeing these fellows I was so familiar with out in the real world and not just on nursery duty, baby sitting the kiddies, or bringing home the bacon.  It was kind of like seeing them at work instead of just "at home".

We became more surrounded by water as we traveled around the Peacocks Pocket Road Route.  By the way we saw no Peacocks on this road.

This part of the road had some decent passing places but soon those would be few.

We found more of the birds which my birding friends tell me are Coots.  Very similiar in looks and body to the Gallinules.  Very heavy bodied and with strong stocky legs so powerful.

These cute little diving guys are Pied-Billed Grebe.  They were a very cute group of tiny little birds in comparison to the more robust looking Coots.

The landscape was beginning to make us feel like we were part of the movie Water World, which no matter what the critics said, I liked.  We were missing a lot of birds which showed up in our photos when we blew them up on the computer.  "I didn't see that" is a common comment between Lea and I in comparing our photos.  Sometimes the camouflage in nature is a powerful defense.

Now we're on the deeper side of the Indian River Lagoon just across the bridge from Mosquito Lagoon, which from the size of the winged pests that occasionally swarmed us was appropriately named.  We were very lucky I think, that the wind was pretty active most of the day, as we may have had the very life sucked from our bodies by the healthy size of those mosquitos.

The skies were beautiful as we kept repeating there's nothing like a Florida sky.  The only thing that compares is the skies I saw in New Mexico.

More Gonzo birds.

More Cormorants claiming their own private perches to dry their feathers and plan their next move.  They dive for fish and are sometimes used to fish with in some of the countries in the Far East.  A ring is put around their necks so they can't swallow their catch and a string to reel them in.

As we wound around the road we would often find ourselves pretty close to the buildings at the Cape and the launch sites.  Part of the reason the park is closed to outsiders during a launch.  It would certainly be the cat birds seat for watching the last shuttle launch.

What could have been a great shot if only it had been sharper.  This is where the limitations of my camera leave me wanting bigger and better, a photographer's disease I fear.  The old, my lens is bigger then your lens", syndrome.

OK, my bird watching friends, to me this is a duck, a variety of which I have never seen.  I am being lazy and not taking time to look him up.  Isn't it wonderful to see so may different varieties of these water and wading birds?  It is one more reason to appreciate that I have no trouble learning the five species of Sea Turtles we have in Florida.

Lea pointed out the beautiful reflections that were in the water with the low light to the West.  We took a lot of shots of this subject.  It was difficult to decide which worked better, cropping in to focus on just the dramatic reflections, or maybe a much tighter shot of a more detailed photo, or letting the tops of the plants show with their lacy foliage.  I'm still second guessing my choice.

There are two kinds of Yellow Legs, the Lesser Yellow Legs and the Greater Yellow Legs.  I believe, since I didn't have the other to compare size, that these are the Greater ones.  The yellow legs are a definite characteristic.

Our largest marsh bird is the very regal looking Great Blue Heron.  We saw a few of them in different places but not always could we get close enough to photograph them like this.

The tide was going out and exposing the mud flats which made like a dinner bell, and drew in a wide variety of birds.  I chose the one with the Ibis included to show the size comparison.  There were at least three varieties of these little shore bird types in this large flock, according to the lady doing bird watching beside the road.  She was very quick to inform us that she lived there and came out to the Refuge often to observe.

I watched for a long time trying and failing to get a clear shot of this Black Skimmer working the surface and earning its name as it flew at super speed with that harpoon-like lower jaw just skimming the surface spearing dinner.

As we sat in the car trying to get the skimmer in focus all of a sudden the birds all flew at once right at us.  I wasn't so sure they weren't going to follow the mosquitoes in through the car window.

Back at the Visitor Center I had hoped to get a photo of a Painted Bunting one of my favorite small inland birds which had been feeding here earlier when I did not have camera in hand, of course.  Instead a variety of Red Winged Blackbirds were busy eating the birdseed.

with a pair of Cardinals feeding below the feeder rather then argue with the larger Blackbirds on top.

The reflections of the walkway bridge made me almost think of the famous Monet Painting.

Time was quickly getting away.  We still wanted to see more but the gas gauge was telling us that spending the night in the middle of the Alligator, mosquito infested marsh was an option, but not one we wanted to risk.  To refuel we had to leave the island.  The clouds were rolling in by this point with the 60 percent chance of rain looking like it might materialize.  The wind was getting stronger sending this windsurfer sailing on what looked like a collision path with us.  Of course the beach between us was a barrier but the force and speed this fellow was flying toward us would make that distance disappear if he did not know what he was doing.   There were still another couple of roads to explore and time and weather was running out.  The Visitor Center workers were helpful in pointing out our best direction to go to see the most wildlife.  A real desire for me was to go to the Scrub Jay area where we were told the Scrub Jay, a very rare bird which only lives a narrow band across the middle of Florida, would be found.  After checking us out and not finding us a threat, they actually flew down and alighted on our heads.  But in the meantime a race with the clock was on. ...to be continued and finally, probably to your relief, concluded another day.