Camera Critters~ Peacock Park

Last weekend Sugar Bear and I were accompanied by a dear friend of mine, who recently retired from my place of work, to a fairly local Wild Game Park. It was a lovely morning for a visit with the animals. We thoroughly enjoyed leading following Sugar around the park. Her excitement was infectious, and it almost helped us adults forget the sadness that usually consumes us when viewing animals in cages. For the next few Sunday's my Camera Critters posts will feature different animals from the park that day. I look forward to sharing with you a few of the special moments of the day.



This first set of photographs feature the animal of the day. The Peacock. There were so many peacocks freely wandering this place we jokingly called it Peacock Park. Sugar Bear was enamored by these creatures. Who wouldn't be? How incredibly beautiful is this?



Each time we rounded a corner and came across a male peacock, he would proudly display his feathers. The striking tail feathers stood much higher than Sugar, and I am quite certain it was a bit extraordinary from her perspective.





As a young toddler, Sugar had a small fear of three peacock feathers displayed in her Aunt Amy's bedroom. She did not like them one bit. She would hide behind my leg, and say, "I no like peacock!" This memory had me a bit worried when the very first animal to greet us to the park was a peacock, but I guess time eased her fears. She was completely taken with the amazing colors.





When looking at the full body of this bird, it really makes me wonder what the purpose of all the colors are. Any ideas why the wings are starkly different then the rest of the bird?



As much as I love the tail feathers, I have to say one of the most interesting parts of these handsome fellows is the cute little crest on the top of his head. It makes me giggle actually. It reminds me of those great hats you see women wearing to the horse races. You know....like the ones in "My Fair Lady". Or maybe more fittingly....a Vegas Show Girl.



This post wouldn't be complete unless I mentioned how incredibly noisy these birds can be. The entire time we were at the park, you could hear at least one peacock making a horrible racket. Sugar and I thought is sounded an awful lot like a small child yelling, "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPP!" This was a bit disconcerting, but I was able to convince Sugar Bear that no one needed help. Unfortunately, towards the end of our visit we found the source of the nerve racking squawking and I do think.....maybe....just possibly......he was calling for help. Recently he noticed that he misplaced his pretty colors. Poor fellow!



See you next Sunday, as the story continues.