Bird Diaries

“Always be yourself unless you can be a bird. Then always be a bird.”

I came across this quote on a sticker in an online gift shop and let me tell you that my ears have never fallen upon wiser words.

Birds are literally one of the most unique creations ever. I mean, here you’ve got a living being that can fly, build, sing, dance, warn the approach of predators, keep bugs away, help in seed dispersal and occasionally present themselves as an omen of doom when Alfred Hitchcock decides to use them as inspiration.

That escalated quickly.

Anyway, as far as this post is concerned, we can drop the whole Hitchcock angle and go on a bird watching tour, minus the screams which may be your own.

Here’s presenting the birds.

Let’s Bird it!

Penguins at the Jurong Bird Park, Singapore. Happy Feet vibes, anyone?

Macaws at the entrance of ‘Parrot Paradise’ at the Jurong Bird Park. One of these macaws named Amigo could actually talk and sing the birthday song. Birds are cool.

This one’s a sunbird that perched on my windowsill. The advantage of being a teenager who hates leaving her room is that once in a while, the avians come to say hello:)

Sunbirds are one of the regular visitors at my home in India. We’ve had six generations of these birds in our balcony. They build approximately two nests a year. This one below is one from last year. It’s the mama bird feeding the wee babies:)

That’s Zazu! Hornbill right outside my room. I was rather lucky to get this shot as the moment I took the picture, the little guy took off. Maybe it came to say hello and posed for a free photo on the way.;)

Parrots. You guessed it, right outside my room. These two parrots were initially fighting for a perching spot on the coconut leaf but they realised midway that they’re friends so they settled on leaves one below the other hence giving me this nice dual pose.

This gem popped up while I was compiling pictures for this post. These seagulls are happy in culinary pleasure at the Mercat Square in Edinburgh.

Is it just me or do seagulls remind anyone of Postman Pat?

The resemblance is uncanny.

Right, now for a bit of a funny story with a bird. The first time I’d been to Jurong Bird Park was when I was three. The one distinct thing I remember is being bitten by a Lory at the ‘Lory Loft’. My parents tell me I’d been utterly haunted by that bite so when I visited the park for the second time, 13 years later at the ripe old age of sixteen, going to the ‘Lory Loft was a pretty daring step.

When I entered the area, my confidence shot up cause a Lory perched on my head.

However, I did count my chickens way too early cause the moment I went to feed it, the little tweety bit me….Again. And then it proceeded to finish my food cup.

The fun part here is that I have family photos taken after being bitten by the Lory. Both the times.