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A long-distance Holarctic migrant, the Ruddy Turnstone continues its journey to Arctic breeding grounds stretching from northeastern Alaska to Baffin Island. That enduring bond with the sea inspired the title of this painting: The Call of the Sea. For several years, I have travelled to the southern tip of Canada, at Point Pelee National Park, each early May to witness the spectacular spring bird migration. It was there, at the very tip of the peninsula where the waters of Lake Erie seem to funnel spring migrants toward the continent, that I observed three Ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres). I have known this species since my early teenage years, when I watched it every summer along the breakwaters of the Belgian coast. Meeting these birds again decades later, thousands of kilometers from those childhood memories, was deeply moving.
