Belted Kingfisher ~ "The Best Of Times" ~ "Songbirds & Friends" ~ Watercolor Hummingbirds This white ibis watercolor painting

This white ibis watercolor painting captures something I rarely see in bird art — curiosity directed at the viewer

body swaying with the reeds

Bring the calming spirit of the shoreline home as you immerse yourself in this collection's transcendent beauty

For weeks I heard them before I ever saw one

letting the darks stay soft and deep so the red of the crest and the orange of the blooms carry the light

Belted Kingfisher ~ "The Best Of Times" ~ "Songbirds & Friends" ~ Watercolor Hummingbirds This white ibis watercolor paintingA Belted Kingfisher still at the river's edge is one of my favorite things to come upon that shaggy crest, the heavy bill, the way it sits utterly focused on the water before dropping like a stone after a fish. I have stood and watched one for the better part of a morning, and the time never felt wasted. Those are the best of times. This is a single bird portrait, the kingfisher given the whole stage. I wanted nothing competing with that profile, just