Part 1: Safari Park Part One

20210504

The Experience

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.

Birds are cool and hummingbirds are particularly cool.  We have a feeder in our back yard and the local hummers come regularly.  This fellow is a regular and he likes to drink sitting on the bar.  Note the feet extended for landing.

A pair of doves decided that our canopy was a great place for a nest.  This is their second year at this nest and I caught them as the parents were switching "sitting duties".  The doves see us frequently enough that they are not afraid of us, at least while they are nesting.

We drove the 30 or so miles to the Safari Park and encountered this nice Ice Plant bloom in the parking area.

It has been a few years since we had been at the Safari Park and I had forgotten how many species of birds they have at the park.  This is some sort of Swan that is doing what birds do best:  preening.

Birds, it seems, when they have nothing better to do spend their time preening.  Look at the bill on this fellow.

This bird was spotted in a pond area, wading around.  He was big, the size of a medium turkey.

The flamingos were enjoying their flock, squawking and filtering the muddy water.

This was some kind of duck; very noisy and totally unafraid of people.  Note the big hole in his feathers in the chest area; not sure what this was from.

Another brightly colored duck swimming happily in the algae-infested pond.

In the center of another pond were a group of what appeared to be Cormorants.  Note the hooked bill on the fellow on the right.

Some "beaking" going on; I believe that the male was bringing a catch back to the female sitting on the nest.  Note the intricate feather patterns on the bird on the right side of the photo above.

All birds are twitchy.  They are in constant motion.  The Sony A1's claim-to-fame is fast focus and a bird eye-finder.  Note the reflection in this bird's eye.  This photo is a crop-of-a-zoom at 400mm (about 800mm).  I was very pleased.

This pelican had a striped pouch.

The camera did a good job of focusing through the wire mesh enclosure.  This is a bee eater.

There were a number of plants in full bloom.  This bloom was particularly magnificent.

This bush had blooms in tight clusters.
 


Near one of the concession areas was a tree with huge fruit.  I have no idea what kind of fruit this is, but they were the size of squashes.



Our path took us past some interesting African large animals.  He had radar lock on me from the time I stepped into view.

Interesting and dangerous spiral horns.

Okapi are quite rare and are usually found in dense jungle.
 


The stripes on the hindquarters help the Okapi blend into the forest vegetation.
 


This fellow was resting in the shade.
 


This species was not much bigger than a large dog.
 


The oddest animal in the park.  This is an Abyssinian Ground Hornbill.  The racing scoop is useful when running fast as it allows improved respiration.  Actually, it for amplification of mating calls.  The blue sac fills with air to allow louder calls.  The blue facial skin indicates this is a female bird.



The lower pond area had plenty of diverse types of birds.
 


Long-billed birds are usually fishers.
 


This long-legged fellow is a Secretary Bird: a high-speed super chicken.



Nice green feathers.
 


This bird has green legs.  He was totally focused on some kind of bug.



An interesting color scheme on this bird.



These are Southern Ground Hornbills.  These are big birds.  Their calls are unique, but we did not hear them: they were mute when we were there.



This is an Egret.  They are very efficient hunters.



Note the interesting colors and tail feathers.



The camera did a great job of eye-focus.  Note that the flamingo's nose hole goes through the beak.



  The bright sunlight caused the flamingo's pupils to constrict to pin-holes.

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2021, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.