Reddish Egret Ballet

Just finished this acrylic painting of a couple of Reddish Egrets cavorting in the surf. It's based on a series of photos I took at Bolivar Flats. The behavior was probably a ritualized territorial dispute, but looked more like a ballet.

On June 19th I was watching a pair of Mississippi Kites circling over our neighborhood, when I saw one fly to it's nest in the crown of a spindly pine across the road from our house. With my scope I could see downy young peeping over the edge of the nest. This long-distance photo of an adult at the nest was taken today:

The drought continues, and due to the unusually dry conditions there have been many wildfires here in Southeast Texas. A couple of weeks ago there was a big blaze along Highway 87 near Sabine Pass, and for a while there was concern that Sabine Woods might be in danger. Fortunately the fire didn't reach the sanctuary and the woods were spared. I had been there only a few days prior. When I was there the marshes were very dry, but Dickcissels were singing along the highway, and in the middle of the day I found this Common Nighthawk resting on a branch near Sea Rim State Park: