I left the coast on Friday after a wonderful week cooling off by the ocean. I decided to take a longer way home driving south a little way and then over the mountains toward Arizona. On a quiet highway heading toward the mountains, I quite unexpectedly I passed a place called the San Diego Safari Park that is run by the San Diego Zoo. I decided to stop and see what it was all about. It is located on property that the zoo has owned for a long time and used as a place to do animal breeding and work with endangered species. Sometime back, they decided to add a few more species and open it to the public. The area where the large animals are living is quite huge. So big in fact, they have to run trams around the perimeter so guests can see the animals. The area was quite beautiful with rolling hills all around and the site of giraffes and other large animals off in the distance.
It was there that I found a special, large aviary filled with these frisky and colorful lorikeets. Guests can go inside the aviary and the birds might land on your shoulder and whisper in your ear. I've seen these birds on a couple of the blog sites from Australia but, never seen one in person before. They are the most colorful bird I've ever seen.
16 comments:
I have a number of lorikeets visit my kitchen window every morning and afternoon in expectation for nibbles. Cockatoos frequent my garden too. They're all lovely Australian birds. :-)
In fact, I've just posted some photos on my blog if you care to have a peek. :-)
I've been there and it's a great place to spend the day. And yes, it is absolutely huge!
Super shot, great experience. So glad you chose the road less taken.
Sharon, what an exciting adventure, and thanks for sharing by posting the photo of this marvelous bird. Since I love birds, I would have been delighted to visit that special place. Wonderful photo showing the bird's plumage.
Sharon,
Glad you had your adventure returning to Phoenix from Newport Beach. I do not mean to make your lorikeet discovery less exotic, but the World Wildlife Zoo in west Phoenix has a walk-in aviary with lorikeets. I took my boys there when they were young. We bought some food to feed the lorikeets and they landed all over the boys. Children love it. So do parents with a camera.
They can whisper, but please leave no other 'messages'. Ha!
What a very colorful bird! So many pleasant surprises when we leave the beaten path.
He is one bright little fellow.
Cool bird. The "coast" sounds heavenly! It must be a wonderful break from our heat.
Imagine those landing in your yard! Incredible.
A very nice colored break!
I agree about their color! I don't think I've seen one of these before but they are gorgeous!
It looks like it has been hand-painted.
What fun you had on your adventure into the unknown. Some of the nicest things can happen when we aren't really expecting them to.
It's a gorgeous bird I've only seen in photos or documentaries. Great shot, Sharon.
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