Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from
Brody, Polly and Ellie May!
click here to see more scary places!

Polly's Cube

Relaxing after a nibble of catnip!

Unusual Beach Sitings

Today was a day for unusual sitings at the beach.

Over at Goose Rocks Beach, I was trying to figure
out what I was looking at in the distance.
Turns out they're called Surf Scoters!
Stop by my Shells and Roses blog to see what other
sitings were at the beach today.

First Loon Siting

photo ©Nancy Cooper Funk

While gazing out at the ocean
under a beautiful canopy of clouds, I
spotted my first loon. They have returned
from the lakes for the winter.

Chickadee

"Chickadee"
ink & watercolor © Nancy Cooper Funk

This year I have been so inspired to paint
the many birds I have seen in our garden
and wherever I wander.
This little chickadee was one of the frequent
visitors at our bird feeders.
(I am in the process of working on a series
of paintings of birds.)
If you'd like to see more, just click prints of birds.
Thanks!

Birds by the Sea

In the swells of the sea, this gull rode the
waves while the sparrows on the rocky shore
caught flies on this mild October day.

Kitchen Helper

Polly is my kitchen helper who keeps me
company while I wash dishes.



She may
have an ulterior motive that involves food!

The Red Squirrels Day Two

Early this morning I spotted a baby red squirrel
near their cage that is out in the backyard
(they didn't sleep in it last night).
I was so relieved they survived their first night
on their own.


We're following Lisa's instructions about how
to return them to nature and hopefully their
squirrel instincts will take over. Today they
were here, there and everywhere and I was a
bit nervous that they would run up my leg.


One of them was looking in the screen door of
my studio and climbed right to the top and jumped
into an empty hanging flower basket.

They are very trusting of people and probably
animals and must learn to protect themselves from
the dangers in nature. So we are trying to distance
ourselves and make clanging sounds if they should
approach us.

Baby Red Squirrels

Lisa's holding one of the baby red squirrels who had climbed up onto
her shoulder. She raised them and they seem to think of her as mom.

Since it looks like a stretch of some sunny weather,
today was the day Lisa chose to release the
2 baby red squirrels that she had so kindly taken in
and nurtured when they were separated from their mom
when only several days old. Lisa is a guardian angel to
abandoned, lost or injured wildlife. It was amazing
to see them as they stepped out of their cage for the
first time.
We hope they will be safe and meet up with other
red squirrels to learn the ways of survival
and keep warm this fall and winter.

The baby red squirrel is about to climb on Lisa.... as they raced around the yard
they would suddenly leap onto us.

Visitors

Today I had the pleasure of seeing friends from away
who love Maine. We had a lovely visit when they
stopped by my studio this afternoon.


It was so nice to see Nicole again and
meet Danielle for the first time.

I am going to do a painting of
Danielle to add to the collection
of their beloved pets that I have
painted over the years. I hope they
all have a wonderful vacation to
add to their Maine memories.