Pelican rookery

This is a photo I took several years ago on our first trip down to the keys.

She was in a small zoo area near the Manatees in Homosassa  Springs.

 I couldn't get over the beauty of this mama pelican sitting on a nest.

Her nest was carefully constructed of limbs intertwined in a mess, and yet here she was sitting on it! She apparently was a pelican that could not fly, hence the messed up feathers towards her rear.

What is so funny now is that I know they don't sit, they literally stand on their eggs. They use those huge webbed feet to cover the eggs with their warmth. 

I loved they way she blended into the browns of the sticks and branches. 

What I did not realize was that was going to be more difficult in sepia.

I literally spent almost as much time on the branches as I did the entire bird!

I really want to photograph them when they are nesting on the island. 

I could use the new reference photos.

Boat trip anyone?

Pelican Rookery, 12 x 24 shadowbox ,Acrylic

Day 34 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2018