“Are you taking photos of that bird?”
“Yes, I am”
“There are lots prettier birds than that”
“But this one is different”
“You don’t have them where you’re from?”
“No”
“Lucky you”
Got birds?
beauty & the beholder (bird photography weekly)
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{ 27 comments }
Wren, I love this! LOL!!! I think I’ve met her/him before!
The bird, or the scornful observer?
Boy what some take for ordinary is really extraordinary…. I love the narrative Wren…. Michelle
Thanks, Michelle. It’s hard for me to imagine the birds common here in the eastern US being a thrill for anyone, but still … that’s why we travel, isn’t it?
Wren, what a funny story. The bird looks a lot like the Sacred Ibis. All ibises are great if you ask me.
I’m with you, Amy. Is there a Birdorable Ibis? I’ll have to go check.
Scarlet, Glossy and White so far. White Ibis is the remodeling spokesbird (see upper left of site).
A fine trio, indeed. I think a sacred ibis is needed to round out the group.
And leaving the ibises behind, I love the “I can has roadkill” vulture.
I had a similar experience. People at a park in Florida were curious why my wife and I were so excited to see the White Stork (which looks a lot like your Ibis)
I was in California one time with some local birders who were ecstatic at seeing a wood duck. A wood duck? We have those everywhere.
Of course, they didn’t understand why I was so excited to see an acorn woodpecker, so there you go.
LOL. It is very similar to the African Savred Ibis, which is called Skoorsteenveër in Afrikaans. Skoorsteenveër means chimney sweep. These poor birds
Mind you, these two or both handsome compared to the Hadeda Ibis. Wait until you hear that one!
sacred, not savred (this is typo no 5 on BPW comments – sigh)
I thought it was a Sacred Ibis when I first saw it. Chimney sweep is a good nickname, but I think they’re kind of cute anyway.
Nice to see a clean one for a change unlike the ones at the local tip.
Well, like most birders, I spend a fair amount of time at landfills and wastewater treatment plants, so a downtown bird is a nice, civilized change.
We don’t have them here either.
Unlucky me.
Well, that’s my perspective on beauty.
And a right good one, I might say.
Haha! Yes, it’s all about perspective. And that doesn’t just regard birding.
Very true, scienceguy. But birding is complicated enough.
Your post made me chuckle too! Those birds love all the smelly places like landfills, sewage ponds, and anywhere people dump their rubbish. A while back one of our cities employed a man with a trained eagle to scare off at least some of the White Ibis from the city centre! However, I admit they make nice photos!
We see garbage, they see buffet.
The whole exchange made perfect sense – I could imagine a similar conversation in the US, with pigeons instead of ibises. Though I’ve taken a fair share of photos of pigeons, too.
Now if the man with the eagle had been there, that would have been really cool!
Wren, I had to stop laughing long enough to write a comment
The White Ibis is definitely a very cool looking character. You got some great shots of it too!
Isn’t it funny how one person’s beautiful bird receives scorn from another beholder?
It struck me as funny at the time, too, but I was careful not to chuckle openly, being a guest in the country and all that.
Nice post about the Austrailian White Ibis. I would love to see it in person some day, different than the White Ibis seen in the states.
The nice thing about travel is that even the common, ordinary birds you can’t miss can be lifers!
Wow! That bird is cool! I would love to see a bird like that walking around the city like he owned it…
That he did, showing a definite preference for trash from McDonald’s
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