Firebird

                         

'Firebird'  (Private Collection, auctioned at Brevard Art Museum)

Great Blue Heron

 Ardea herodias

        This Great Blue Heron is in the process of molting, getting ready to bring forth resplendent new plumage for the next mating season.  It was fishing at Castaway Point in Palm Bay, so named for the Spanish sailors who were stranded here when their treasure fleet  was decimated by a hurricane in 1713, while on the way back to Spain with gold, silver, and jewels from the New World.  After storms, gold and silver coins are still found on the beaches of the barrier islands.