Belted Kingfisher ~ "The Best Of Times" ~ "Songbirds & Friends" ~ Watercolor Hummingbirds This red-bellied woodpecker watercolor captures

This red-bellied woodpecker watercolor captures a bird whose name is a small mystery — the red is on its head

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

working small and careful to keep that crown truly glowing

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

The great grey owl is the collection's most hypnotic subject

Belted Kingfisher ~ "The Best Of Times" ~ "Songbirds & Friends" ~ Watercolor Hummingbirds This red-bellied woodpecker watercolor capturesA 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