Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts

Friday, June 4, 2010

"Sweet Song" White-Rumped Shama

                       
                                                12"x12" Acrylic on board


Just completed this painting about 2 hours ago.   This bird is also known as Shama Thrush and is found on Oahu, Kauai, and Maui.  This past February I went to the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens on Oahu with friends and was fortunate enough to take a few pictures of this handsome thrush before he flew away.  I was positively thrilled by the encounter as I had wanted some photos of this bird for a long time .  I already had several reference photos of baby shamas I had taken at another botanical garden on Oahu, so now I really was pleased.   This painting is of a male Shama Thrush; the female is more gray and duller with a shorter tail than the male.   Many people think this is the best songster in the islands.

Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden is very large (400 acres) and has a 32 acre lake on the premises.   I may post more later about this wonderful place, as I intend to paint more scenes from there in the future.  Wonderful place to spend time in nature, and of course they have lots of waterfowl on their lake.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

"Just The Two Of Us"
















16" x 20" Acrylic  

This painting is of Nene,  Hawaii's State Bird. They are also known as the Hawaiian Goose.  They are found only in Hawaii and are on the Federal List of Endangered Species.  Most of the photos I have taken of them have been on the island of Kauai.   To my knowledge, the only ones on Oahu are at the Honolulu Zoo.   They remind you a little of the Canadian Goose, to which they are related.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Zebra Dove at Diamondhead
















8" x 10" Acrylic on canvas
$500


These tiny doves are literally taking over the islands. They are everywhere and usually found in groups. But this fellow was alone when I saw him on the cliff at Diamondhead Beach not too far from the lighthouse there. I had been taking photos of the beach and people there and decided to sit down in the shade at the bottom of the cliff to just relax and take in all the beauty of the area and watch the wave formations, when I discovered the dove watching me from behind and a little above my head and I promptly snapped a few photos of him/her.