FRIGATES IN FLIGHT | Niki Butcher

Pine Island Sound, FL © 1984

I love watching Frigates fly. They have the highest ratio of wing area to body mass and the lowest wing loading of any bird. This enables the birds to use the marine thermals created by the small differences between tropical air and water temperatures. They can soar for a long time; however, the drawback is they cannot get wet. They dive for fish and scoop them up in their beaks, but if they miscalculate and land in the water, their wings do not repel water. While we were sailing in the Pacific, off the coast of Mexico, we anchored off Island Isabella. The Frigates were nesting on the small island and they were all decked out in their sexiest feathers. One day a bird missed the fish and landed in the water. It began drowning. Clyde jumped in our dinghy and rowed out to save the bird. He put his oar out so the bird would climb onto it, which it did. He then moved the bird to the stern of the dinghy. The look of the bird’s face was one of complete embarrassment. It was as if it was saying, “Oh my gosh, how embarrassing to be saved by a human!” When Clyde got to the shore, he rowed the stern of the dinghy up against a rock so the bird could easily climb off the boat onto the rock, which it did. The Art of Hand Painting Black and White Photographs Photographed with her film camera, Niki was able to scan the rediscovered negative and paint using Photoshop. Changing from the old-fashioned way of doing her art, to the new ‘fashion’ of using technology was challenging, but she’s enjoying getting back to her own personal expression. Archival Print Making Niki’s open edition gicleé artwork is printed on Sunset Bright Velvet Rag matte finish paper using eight archival inks. A state-of-the-art Epson Stylus Pro printer creates deep, rich dark values that hold subtle detail in the shadows as well as bright vivid colors that are truly tropical.