(Click on photo to see both beautiful birds!)
Sunday was a beautiful day in Miami so La Diva and her sidekick, DJ Nevah L8 decided to go for a bike ride down to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden for their annual chocolate festival. Old Cutler Rd. is a gorgeous street with a jungle canopy of huge fig trees, vines and other tropical flora that makes it so beautiful. However, with single lanes for both sides, it's a bitch when there is an event at the garden and long lines of traffic is the norm. To avoid this headache and keep our day pleasant, we avoid this altogether by parking at Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove and riding the five and a half miles down to the garden.
As we were taking our bikes off the car, I heard a loud noise that sounded like a huge bird in the palm trees above me. Living for years in Australia, I recognized the sound of a parrot but knew that it must be one large bird. I'd only seen small wild parrots in Miami, especially the small green ones on Lincoln Road. I finally saw it, not one but two huge macaws were in the palm trees just above our heads! They were gorgeous!!!
Apparently, Miami has a wild macaw population started from escaped birds from Parrot Jungle during a hurricane as well as released parrot pets from dim-witted owners. We watched them for a few minutes while they raucously squawked and then suddenly, they were gone, flying to another place to eat, screech and make trouble.
I had the privilege of sharing my home with a blue and gold macaw named Watson for a few years - his favorite "trick" was to escape from his cage in the middle of the night, open the cupboard and eat all of the cream filling from the Oreo cookies. He would then make his way to my bedroom and tell me "Bad Watson! Bad!".
ReplyDeleteOMG! That is hilarious, esp. that he knew he was doing wrong but did it anyway! Such a human quality! It's also funny that Watson knew to steal the best part of the cookie!!!
ReplyDeleteAt the zoo, I occasionally work with the lorikeets. There are about 50 of them in a walk-through aviary. They will land on your head or shoulders or arms if you have nectar for them. They're beautiful, and very feisty!
ReplyDeleteHow cool!!! You know those are native parrots to Australia don't you? (or more correct: Australasia!) In fact, they are called Rainbow Lorikeets. And the everyday "parakeet" or budgerigar or "budgie" is also found in the outback in huge flocks.
ReplyDelete(likes your new photo, is it the "one wafer-thin mint" man?)
Oh, I know about those lorikeets! And yes, that's Mr. Creosote of Monty Python fame. Wafer thin! LOL!
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