Black-headed Weaver
Tag: bird
Even the Starlings are Pretty
While the big game such as elephants, lions, and hippos, get the attention on an African safari, the birds deserve top billing as well.
The birds are amazing. From large, dramatic species like crowned cranes and hamerkops, to the small colorful sunbirds, there is an amazing richness to encounter in the African wilds.
There is only so many times you can take a photo of a lion or hippo. Between those big game encounters there are half a dozen birds to be viewed and photographed. From the delicate pin-tailed whydah to a wheeling flock of white-backed vultures, check out the birds.
Continue reading “Even the Starlings are Pretty”Marabou
Imagine a bird…. A rather large bird…. That at once is both majestic and something that might populate a horror movie.
Look up just about any online list of the world’s ugliest birds and you will find the Marabou Stork listed. Deservedly so. This bird can be described as a very large, rather ill-tempered cross betwixt a stork, a vulture, and a burn victim.
The marabou stands about four feet tall and can have up to a three meter wingspan, though about two meters may be more typical. Large enough to intimidate nearly any other creature they may encounter, including people.
Continue reading “Marabou”Egyptian Goose
Crowned Cranes
Kingfisher
Postcard from Alaska – Arctic Terns
A small chunk of ice makes a perfect resting place for Arctic Terns. Somehow these beautiful birds fit both their name and the place. Looking as if they are made of ice themselves, grey with white and black markings, these birds just fit the environment.
Heron
Turkey Strike!
There are many hazards in driving the legendary Saddle Road… bad pavement, regular fog, blind curves and hills, one lane bridges, and do not forget the low flying turkeys.
It came out of nowhere, coming across the road at the very worst time as we rounded a sharp curve with no chance to take evasive action before it struck. My wife saw it first, giving that peculiar short half scream I have long ago associated with impending disaster. We were lucky and it didn’t come through the windscreen as it very well might have. A full grown turkey is a big bird, I suspect large enough to smash right through the safety glass and into the face of the driver and passenger. Instead it struck the pillar on the driver’s side and my side view mirror.
Other that my wife’s shocked nerves the only damage is a completely smashed side view mirror and a dent in the molding. What damage the turkey suffered is unknown as it disappeared, apparently still mobile and able to flee the scene of the accident.
So I will be spending a little time on the phone, calling around to junkyards to see if anyone has a side view mirror for a Ford Explorer and reminding myself it could have been much worse.
