Montecasino Bird Park

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Geo: -26.1538, 28.0389

This afternoon Paul, Jen and I went to the Montecasino Bird Park. I'm not that interested in birds and didn't know what to expect. When we arrived we choose to go through the Lorikeet Aviary first. In here there were lots of friendly lorikeets that we could feed nectar to. The birds would sit on our hands and eat the nectar. It was a bit ticklish when they stood on my head. One of them even licked sweat from my forehead! This was such a weird feeling! These birds were so colourful.

After the Lorikeet Aviary we came across some of the larger birds here; storks, flamingos, pelicans and cranes. It was now 3pm so we headed to the amphitheatre for the Flight of Fantasy Show. During the next half hour we were entertained with various birds showing us their talents. It was quite entertaining and enjoyable. During this show I met the ugliest bird I have even seen – a Marabou Stork. This bird was hit hard with the ugly stick.

After the show we continued walking around. Our next place to visit was the Parrot Gallery. The birds here are free to roam around. These species are so brightly coloured. I was surprised to come across some Australian birds – a cockatoo and a galah – this made my day.

We saw a pair of old tortoises trying to mate. The female didn't seem interested as she was walking away. On our way to the Walk Through Aviary we observed some meerkats. They are so entertaining to watch.

The Walk Through Aviary was huge and we spent a lot of time in here identifying the many bird species freely flying about. On our way out there was a toucan enclosure. These birds have such amazing coloured beaks. In the end we spent about two and a half hours here and we all enjoyed our visit.

This evening we had a walk around the casino. We met up again with Kath and her friend for dinner.

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Photos

01 Chicken
Some type of chicken.

02 Lorikeet
Paul feeding a lorikeet some sugar water.

03 Lorikeets
It was then my turn to feed the lorikeets.

04 Kissing
Paul kissing a lorikeet.

05 Licking
The lorikeet licking the salt from my forehead.

06 Scratchy
A lorikeet scratching my scalp with its claws.

07 Colourful
A very colourful lorikeet.

08 Pair
A pair of pelicans.

09 Pelican
A pelican - not white like the ones I had seen before.

10 Pelicans
Pelicans with black and white feathers.

11 Warning
A warning to help keep us safe from the dangerous birds.

12 National Bird
The Blue Crane is South Africa's national bird.

13 Ivy
Ivy all over the tower - Italian themed.

14 Hornbill
A Northern Ground Hornbill.

15 Pair
A pair of macaws- these two birds were part of the bird show.

16 Crane
The Blue Crane was also part of the bird show.

17 Landing
A White Backed Vulture landing on command from its trainer.

18 Treat
The vulture getting a treat from its trainer for do its performance.

19 Toucan
A very colourful toucan.

20 Sunset Beak
The colours of the beak remind me of a sunset.

21 Hornbill
The Northern Ground Hornbill after performing for the audience.