Secretary Bird

"The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change -- until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds."

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

"Secretary Bird" watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - Maree©

Taking a break from the flowers, back to my favourite subject, birds! I photographed this chap (he clearly was a 'chap', because he kept a beady eye on anybody wanting to get too close to his lovey) at the Umgeni River Bird Park in Durban, South Africa.

Also had a wonderful experience there with a Ground Hornbill. It was feeding time, and they were given some dead day-old chicks. He, or she, picked up his chick and brought it over and offered it to me through the fence. I took it from him, holding onto it for a while, and all the while he was watching me with those wonderful eyes with the most gorgeous eye-lashes every woman can only dream about. I then offered it back to him, he gently took it, walked over to another Hornbill and offered it to 'her'. She duly took it from him and swallowed it. One can only wonder about this action and embrace the tender moment of inter-action.

Ground Hornbill

(Click on image to enlarge to see those eye-lashes!)

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