Africa is 'for the birds'

Love birds, Love birds, Love birds

I have always loved birds and admired and envied their ability to soar through the sky above us all. They have much in common with each other but are also so very different. Africa is full of birds of every type and a few weeks ago we took our "P" day, our one day off each week to prepare for the next week, and we got up close and personal with many of the beautiful and unique birds of this great land. We went to a place called The Bird Garden. The best way I can describe it is as an open air aviary about the size of a professional basketball arena with hundreds of different types of birds living there. Each bird variety had its own natural habitat for eating, nesting and flying. The entire top of this large facility was covered with a massive net to keep the birds in, but frankly, they all seemed quite content to just do their 'bird thing'. Their wings were not clipped-they were free to fly within this vast tropical forest. Without a lot of commentary, below are just a few examples of the unique birds we saw and of the great time we had walking for hours amongst our winged friends.

Please enjoy...

The grace and elegance of the pink flamingo.

One of the many varieties of the parrot family that were flying loose everywhere and were most social. The colors are vivid & dramatic, but amazingly camouflaged within the foliage.


What he thinks is 'his better side'



This was great. This young man was walking near us when this bird flew onto his shoulder and then began picking the lad's teeth. The more he laughed about it the further in the bird went until he was cleaning off his molars. It had us all in stitches.


Reenie was soon in on the act with a small tray of food she offered and quickly had a friend. The cleaning of the teeth was left for the dentist's office however.



The Hornbill. What a noise!



The colorful Toucan


An African owl in action. Wingspan up to 1.3 meters (about 4.5 feet)



A Saddle-billed Stork patrols the shoreline for dinner.


The chorus-girl like head dress of the Crowned Crane


What...I don't look like a bird?

Well no kidding! But hey, while you've got the camera out...
How's this for a pose?

Male Spoonbill that stands about 4-5 feet tall

Helmeted Guineafowl

Laughing Dove, and yes it really does sound like it is laughing.

This dove is about twice the size of those in the US.

Nesting Red Ibis

Flock of Red Ibis nesting in the tops of trees

Got me here. Just one of dozens of beautiful birds that will go unidentified for now.

This does not appear comfortable at all. This Saddle-billed Stork is sitting down with his 'knees' bent backwards...well, not for a bird... but to me it just looks like it hurts.

These gorgeous creatures are the Blue and Gold Macaws. They are the largest of the Parrot family and were free to fly about the aviery. We were fortunate to have this one land nearby and chat with us for quite a while.

A sort of disgusted look... which he gave us when he realized that we had no figs...his favorite food. He was soon off to source better opportunities.

And finally, the ballerinas of the birdworld. A continuous show of eating, preening and sleeping

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.

There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds,

the ebb and flow of tides, the folded bud ready for Spring.

There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature-

the assurance that dawn comes after the night

and Spring after the Winter.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

Stay well.