The Sacred Ibis is one of my favourite birds. Here is a tree full of them in a park in Townsville. These birds are a couple of feet tall. They stalk around Sydney, too, looking disreputable & disheveled, ignoring people & raiding rubbish bins. They have a wonderful long strong beak. They perch on the rim of the bin, and they grab rubbish & fling it all about in search of goodies.
One day I was walking through Hyde Park. An odd rustle/crackling sound caught my attention, and, looking around for the source, I saw a Sacred Ibis who had somehow got hold of an unopened packet of Twisties. He'd been going at the packet, shaking & rattling it, but the delicious extruded snack stubbornly refused to appear. Without thinking, I approached the bird, holding out my hand and saying "Oh, give me that". The Ibis dropped the packet and backed away a few steps, eyeing me intently. I opened the bag, put it back on the ground, and stepped away. Without a word of thanks, he dived in to grab the crunchy, golden treats and gobble them up.
14 comments:
Fraggin Awesome, I might start using some of your photos as background images, I would obviously credit them to you, s'allright?
Sure, no worries. Thanks for asking. Let me know on email gingerstick at gmail dot com.
Love this photo and the story. It's a gift to be able to interact this unselfconsciously with a wild animal.
hereTgoneT: Yes, I only thought it was odd afterwards. Especially my "exasperated mother" tone of voice when I asked him to give me the bag. Or perhaps especially that he let me have the packet and seemed to be waiting for me to open it - it's not like he dropped it and ran away.
A traitor to the cause!
jmf: Yes, yes. You'd like me to have strangled the bird with my bare hands, or at the very least put poison in the Twisties. (Actually, the manufacturers have already taken care of that.)
The sacred Ibis got stuck in a rut,
Wandering the alleys
and byways of Sydney,
Snatching each handout
with a rasping great “GIMME!”
Throwing trash all around,
and murmuring smut,
much like the Desiccated Coconut.
But along came our blogger,
The intrepid Cissy,
As the ibis sat whacking
A month old, stale Twisty-
“Just give it to me!”
Cissy said as she cut
Straight through the bag
And then Smack! Whack! Kerfluk!
Right out on his butt,
Fell the Desiccated Coconut!
I love the photo too. I'm still waiting on the pic of your gym instructor.
I adore that picture! And I love shorebirds. They look so marvelously absurd in their construction, and it actually works.
One thing though. I'm not so sure your were doing the bird a favor by opening the package.
colonel: What a delightful rhyme. And I hope precient. The Desiccated Coconut has still not called the election.
(For my US readers - the federal government has a three year term, but it is not fixed. So the Prime Minister is the one who says when the election will be - within some time parameters.)
We know he has a date in mind, but the little bastard keeps smiling that smug smirk and saying he doesn't know yet. The Treasurer (all tip and no iceberg) let the 30th Novmeber slip, but we can't be sure. Howard is waiting for his ratings to boost I think. He'll be waiting til Doomsday. /end rant.
cuntie: She of the Golden Bum said she didn't like having her photo taken. So you'll just have to let your imagination roam free. Or I can try to locate a bottom shot that is approximate.
pheebs: I think you are 100% right. With the junk these birds eat it's a wonder thay can still stalk around looking absurd & marvelous.
Here's one. Came out pretty cool.
The look like magnificent scavengers! Ungrateful but when you look that good you don't have to be polite, right?
mr merciless: In the parlance of today's kids - Cool!
sara sue: Why do we like those rumpled rough bad boys?
Personally, I like living on the edge.
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