May 25, 2011

Egret Flying

Egret Flying
6x6 oil
©2011 Deb Kirkeeide

On one of my recent trips to Carver Park Reserve, I spent some time watching an Egret feeding in one of the ponds there. She wouldn't let me get too "close" (not at all) and would take off and fly to the other end of the pond if she thought I was too close for comfort.
But I managed to watch her for a while and got a few reference photos. They are so beautiful.

I mentioned before that I was interested in these and the herons, among others, and have been researching  areas where I can observe them. One such place was a heron rookery just north of downtown Minneapolis.

Yesterday I found out the rookery had been destroyed by the tornado that hit here recently. There were close to two hundred nests and all are gone. I believe they've managed to rescue about 7 chicks that managed to survive the storm. By their estimates, over 300 chicks were lost. A whole generation. Most of the adults survived but it was reported after the storm many of them circled the area looking for their nests. It's heartbreaking to see the destruction - from the many homes that were destroyed in its path, to the beautiful  big trees and the animals.

Let's all stay safe from the storms, okay?

SOLD



3 comments:

Dar Presto said...

Wonderful sense of movement and light, and nice division of space in the composition.

That's terrible about the destruction caused by the tornado.

Deb Kirkeeide said...

Thanks Dar.
It's always sad to see the aftermath of these storms.

GYPSYWOMAN said...

oh, this is just beautiful, deb! ditto dar! i love it!

and your tiger lilies! just magnificent!