My walking and painting buddy and I did another early morning “sit and paint” instead of exercising. This time we ended up at a cove near Fairhaven Cliffs. I haven’t been able to find an official name for this tidal “lake” but locals say that there was once a building nearby called the Cove Club and that Fairhaven Cove is as good a name as any.
Four or five osprey circled overhead, crying to one another as they looked way down into the water before dropping suddenly to the surface and rising again with a fish in their talons. Mrs. Osprey brought a fish back to feed to her babies, whom we could occasionally see poking their heads over the rim of the nest. One of the osprey lost his fish as he was ascending, the fish fell near the heron, and the heron spread his wings threateningly and squawked at the osprey. Two egrets fished first one side of the cove and then the other.
I had a great time watching the birds, the wind ruffling the water, the sun lighting up the area, and trying to paint it all before the light changed too much. And then the deer fly found me and started biting through my pants! How they can bite so hard through clothing and not leave holes is amazing and irritating. I’d had enough! So I packed up my paints and my sketches and came home to do this painting in my studio.
Ruth Bailey, artist 
I’m interested in hearing what you think!