Birds of Eden - Part Two

There were birds with funny beaks.  Like the Red Billed Hornbill, native toWest, East and South Africa .

There were birds with funny hair.  Like the Crowned Crane from South Africa, Kenya and Uganda.

Then there were birds that were so perfectly amazing that they hardly looked real.  Like this Mandarin Duck from Eastern Asia.

But the one bird that DD was dying to see was the flamingo.  The shallow pond that held the flamingo's and scarlet ibis was hidden just around a bend in the path.  DH says her face was priceless when she turned the corner and came face to face with her favorite bird.  It was all she could talk about for hours afterwards.  This is the greater flamingo from the Caribbean,  Africa, South West Europe and Asia.

There were many more birds and there are many more photos on file, but this is the last photo I will post of Birds of Eden because these are the ones that most fascinate DS #1 and myself.  They are weavers.  We have Cape Weavers around our neighbourhood and you can see their nests in the trees.  If you look closely in the photo you can just make out the Golden Palm Weaver hanging upside down and weaving his nest out of fresh twigs. Finished nests dry and turn brown as you can see in the right of the photo. 





The one bird in the book that eluded us during our trip was Branta Canadensis.  Native to North America and Eastern Siberia.  It's a shame really I would have liked to have seen such a rare bird as the Giant Canadian Goose ;)  

Next Post - Being Canadian