Beauty Break | Hitting Send

Feb 25

Posted by Antonia at 8:16 pm in Beauty Break

While the first thing I noticed about moving to a retreat center/animal sanctuary was the Sacred Heritage tree, the first sound I heard was most definitely the cacophony of the many, many Amazing birds in residence. There are so many, Dear Reader, I admittedly have felt a bit overwhelmed by them all, and have thus gotten to know them at my own sweet pace. It’s been a DeLight to explore the various parrots, pheasants, doves, finches, peacocks, swans, emus, ducks, geese… you’re getting the picture, right? There is a plethora of Beautiful birds on this property. I could not begin to show you all of them, in their often brightly coloured spendor, but I set out today to introduce you to some of them.

We shall begin with Sydney, for he’ll introduce himself as soon as you make your way across the stretch of lawn in front of his cage. “Hello?” he’ll call, “How are you?” Nice manors, don’t you think?

Sydney, the 52 year-old Cockatoo, native to Indonesia

Beside his cage are the other parrots, all of whom were very patient with me as I photographed them. I was particularly Grateful to the Sweet Votan, whose willingness to open her stunning blue and sunny yellow wings was particularly touching. Many thanks, also, to the animal handlers who assisted in the venture. Here are the parrots they showed me:

Ixsxhel, a hybrid Macaw, he’s a captive bred species

This is Votan, she’s a Blue and Gold Macaw, native to South America

This is Charlie, and he’s an Amazon

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have read tweets about, and/or seen pictures of, Roy. I fell in Love with him instantly, and am still fascinated by the twenty-year-old European turkey who wanders freely about the property. He stays within one area, his black and white feathers standing out as he crosses the main lawn, sits by the dining hall or stands outside the birdcages to flirt with the peahens. He gets very excited when guests come to stay, and is also an avid music fan. When tunes can be heard in the main dining area, Roy will puff up his feathers and gobble for ages! hehehe The sounds of his “gobble gobble gobble” across the grounds cracks me up. It really does.

Roy, the big turkey boy

There are quite a few different types of pheasants on the property, most of whom preferred not to be photographed. Except, that is, for the Silver Pheasant, who wandered right up to greet me.

I think I saw the giant Emu eggs before I met the birds themselves. There are a male and female who reside here, and they’re two of the oldest Emu’s in the World. They are very sweet and curious. Isn’t he super cute??

Another of my favourites to spend time with is the Swan, Luxor. She’s a black swan, who’ll elegantly glide across the pond to greet visitors. She Loves to chat, and has even been known for singing along, if you sing the right melody to her. I think she’s Lovely, Lovely!

Luxor, the Sweetheart black swan

Of course the peacocks and peahens are a Joy to behold, in their magnificent array of brightly colored iridescent feathers. If you look closely, you can see one of the peahens curiously looking out from behind his skirt. I’m certain she’s the very same peahen I witnessed having an escaped outing on the roof recently. Yes, I tweeted that pic, too!

Abdul, the Peacock, with Peahen peeking out

The Magnificent Crane

All of the birds are a part of my days here, whether it’s the soft cooing of doves, or gobbling of Roy, or strange squawking from one of the parrots. I am Grateful to witness their Spectacular mating dances, and to be amongst such Beauty and charm. They really are Amazing animals. I hope you’ve enJoyed visiting with them, too!

Love and Blessings,
Antonia

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Jan 10

Over a Rainbow Trail

Posted by Antonia at 11:21 am in Beauty Break

My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky.

~William Wordsworth~

I recently made a journey to my BeLoved, Beautiful Northern California for the Holidays. As my bus made its way through the San Francisco/Bay Area, I was Amazed by a Glorious rainbow display, very much like the above picture. WOW! Well, I Love to share Beauty! “Look at the rainbow!” I declared, trying to get any and everyone on the bus to share in the joyous Beauty! People looked!
Hey, yeah, pretty!

The man sitting in front of me turned around and asked me where the gold lay.

I looked out at the rainbow, then back at him.

“I suspect it’s all around us and we just don’t see it,” I replied. And so it is…

Over Mountains