It’s hard to know who’s on the nest and who’s out getting breakfast. Both male and female piping plovers share all the duties.
On the nest is a smaller companion piece to Foggy morning at Pine Point Beach. The two paintings show the nesting pair performing their duties, waiting for the eggs to hatch. If you look closely, you can see the warm filtered sunlight on the bird's right breast, and the cool light of the ocean on the left.
On the nest is an 8" x 8" acrylic painted on a wood panel. This pair of plovers was nesting on Pine Point Beach in Scarborough, Maine last June. Like nearly all my paintings, the piping plover is rendered at actual size.