Old? Yes, this one is from 1998. This painting shows a pair of Maui ‘Amakihi. I got the reference photos of these energetic little honeycreepers at Hosmer’s Grove in Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui. The birds were in a picnic area of the park and were banded with bright leg bands for some sort of study. They weren’t very shy. Despite that long beak for eating nectar and small insects, they were pretty adept at grabbing up the scraps of food left around by other visitors. We watched them gobble up some dropped bagel. Who would’ve guessed? I was able to get nice frame-filling shots with a 400mm lens. Earlier that day we saw ‘apapane and ‘i’iwi at Waikomoi Preserve. Later Liesl and I took a hike along the crater of the dormant volcano. Not a bad way to spend a day!
This painting was in the May 2001 issue of American Artist Magazine.
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