Guests for Dinner, 18x24 Oil on Canvas

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This Wood Stork is calmly looking over the Spoonbills feeding in Mrazek Pond in the Everglades. The Wood Stork puts his bill underwater and waits for his prey, then his beak snaps shut at lightning speed, 25 milliseconds. This is known as grope-feeding. The Wood Stork has one of the fastest reflexes of any vertebrate.

Carmen

Everglades Bird, 10x8 Landscape Oil Painting by Carmen Beecher

$125, Click to Purchase

Painting the Everglades brings back such a happy memory of a fun camping trip with my friends Cindy and Kathy. We learned that the yellow stuff the bird is standing on is called Periphyton, and it is an important part of the food chain. It forms when many algae plants grow together, and provides a habitat for insects, snails, and other aquatic creatures. Phosphorus is damaging to the health of the Everglades, and Periphyton mats remove phosphorus from the water. If humans don't interfere with Nature, things work out pretty well.

That concludes my science lesson for today.

Carmen