Squak! Hoot! Coo!

These were the sounds that accompanied my trip through the largest bird park in the world!!

Highlight? Petting a penguin.

boo. yeah.

It was a really interesting day - they had thousands of birds there, from all over the world. We spent a solid afternoon walking around checking them all out. We even managed to catch a glimpse of the very rare, very shy, white peacock.

isn't she purdy?!

The flamingos were awesome too - I love watching them wind their necks in the craziest of positions. One guy's all stretched out looking for food, while his neighbour is curled up for a nap.

flamingo, flamingo, flamingo, flamingo...

Mid-afternoon we stopped for the outdoor flying show. The pelicans were great; they knew that they'd be getting those oh-so-delicious dead fish treats and they knew they were in the trainer's bag. So they spent the majority of their time trying to worm their way in to gobble up those tasty little tidbits. In their frenzied attempt to indulge in fishy ambrosia, they also managed to nibble away on the trainers hand. It was hilarious when you could see fingers through the skin of the pelican pouch.

We were treated to a display of several different species of birds, including birds of prey. At one point in time, they sent the falcon flying out over the audience. Now. These birds don't like to waste energy, so they sure didn't try to gain all that much height as they swooped over our heads. As you can see below, at times they cut it pretty close:

notice the flinching :)

One time, I was directly in the line of flight. Which meant I was treated to a falcon head flying directly at my face, getting bigger and bigger and bigger... I told myself I wasn't going to duck - I failed.

We took a gander through the owl house, where we ran across this cute little pair.

cosy

That's the bottom half of a Condor you see above my head.

Unfortunately, my wingspan is not as big.

About halfway through the day my camera battery died. My first though was: "This is totally going to be the day that I finally see a peacock with his tail fanned". I was right

Luckily, I tricked my camera into working for a photo or two!

A trip to the Walsrode Vogelpark just wouldn't be complete without a shot of their mascot: Mr. Toucan

Anyone have a sudden urge to eat Froot Loops?

Then, at the very end of the day I was treated to this:

Quite possibly the sweetest playground EVER! My inner child was not to be denied and I totally climbed to the top and slid down. Wheee!

Come back soon for more stories - I've had a crazy couple weeks!

Love y'all

Sandy