Flamingos

It was unexpected. I realized I had never seen a flamingo in the wild. There have been many occasions when I admired their elegance, grace, long legs and HOT pink color, but only in zoos and parks - mostly in Florida. Wow! Another life bird!

There could not have been a better location for me to see my first wild Greater Flamingo. We were on Floreana Island in the Galapagos at a lava lagoon named Punta Cormorant, where, by the way, I did not see a cormorant. The landscape of the island looked like a set for some distant planet in a Star Wars movie. My mind wandered to a vision of Charles Darwin exploring the island lagoon and collecting, not beetles, but specimens of the wasps we found so bothersome.

The sunlight was magical and created a stunning reflection. I cherish the blessing of being in the right place at the right time to see this.



Looking down on the lagoon from a nearby hill, probably another volcano, I was reminded how close we were to the ocean. I felt as if I was in a far-off land, when, in reality, the ocean and our zodiacs were just over the large dunes. Barely visable in the photo, is a small fenced area on the far right of the mud flat. The reflection photos were taken from that spot.


From above, it was also easy to see how flamingos make a trail in the mud when feeding off the bottom.


Because I think it beautiful, I will close today's post with a stereotypical shot of a flamingo. Enjoy!