Nature almost always hands me a treasure if I have my eyes open when I am outside. And some of Nature's lessons are hard. Spring is the time of new nests, and courting, and nestlings. But sometimes, there's a dark note that we don't often see. When my husband and I were outside this evening, we came across this broken bird's egg. It still had some of the yoke inside so I don't believe this little one made it. It most likely was a predator's snack. 

Still, there is beauty in the shell itself. It is so very fragile, seeming to give way under the lightest touch, yet it doesn't. The outside coloring is a very pale blue-green with sienna and umber brown spots. The inside is a paler shade of the blue-green without spots. When we found the shell the ants were feasting on what was left of the yoke. Nature at her finest, continuing her work, wasting nothing.

This was drawn and painted from life and took about 17 minutes from sketch to the last touch of paint. Perhaps this little one didn't make it, but it will be remembered in my sketchbook.