Whimsical Birding

First off, I would like to congratulate Brad and Jan on their soon to be completed (later today) St. Jude charity run from Memphis, TN to Peoria, IL. Jan running legs over the multi-day event and Brad in support. Such a good cause for the children (and their parents) going through a really tough time. Makes all of our bumps, bruises and recovery trivial in comparison.

I have been processing pictures as of late and came across a more whimsical series I thought I would share as the first post in August (how can we be in August already ugh).

Hit the jump to view more of our featured feathered…actually make that flowered friends we saw on our April trip to Vegas.

Since the early days of our wedded bliss, Las Vegas has been our home away from home. We would find our way out there at least once a year to spend the week or more doing what you do in Vegas. At the start, the Strip was always our preferred location, enjoying the sights and sounds of the “newer” casinos versus the more hardcore downtown options. I am fairly confident there is not a casino or attraction we do not know like the back of our hand as we always made an effort to “explore” new opportunities. However, there were always our go-to places that we made a point to take in. This included the Bellagio fountains, the shops at the Venetian, the Wynn Gardens, The Flamingo Casino birds, The New York pretzels, Peter Lik galleries, Mandalay House of Blues, Count’s Tattoo shop, Caesar’s Cheesecake Factory and the Excalibur’s Krispy Kreme (at 2am) that we would enjoy while noting the hooker lines forming at the Luxor inclinators. One place that was always on the top of Linda’s list to see was the latest offering at the Bellagio Gardens.

Over the years, we have seen some amazing talent on display at these gardens, but this is the first time they have featured birds (that we know of). Absolutely AMAZING. I have only take the DSLR out on the strip once and that was solely to capture the various statues that I had been admiring for years (link here). Gargoyles and building statues are kinda my thing when we are out and about. Long winded way to state that these pictures were all taken with a cell phone – apologies for the quality.

Also of note, for those that have never been to the Bellagio Gardens, it is packed with people. To get a shot without other people in it is nearly impossible and navigating around the selfie-generation will push your self-control to its limits. Going late at night will help the situation, but Vegas never sleeps and the check-in at the hotel desk nearby is nonstop. These shots were taken at the top of the day and in most cases massive cropping was required (these images are not worth bringing up Photoshop and masking people out).

Obviously there were liberties taken with the coloring and shapes of the birds, but for an ornamental display, the various scenes they had were spectacular. I wish now that I had taken pictures of the placards they had which gave more background on the bird, how it was made etc. They were predominately flower/plant based with some features like the bill and feet more decorative fabrication.

Their American Goldfinches were the closest to realistic on the color front – oversized to the rest of the specimens, but that is just nitpicking by a birder ha. I thought the “moss” lady below was stunning and the water effect out of silk in her hand was very clever.

The small hut on the bottom right side of the shot above was called the bird’s nest. You could rent that place out for some serious cash to enjoy your privately catered breakfast (or lunch/dinner I suppose). I cannot remember the price, but the fact it was privately catered and IN the Bellagio puts it in the “out of our interest” category. There was a group in there when we came through in the later morning. Noting the fact there was a constant crowd of people passing by that area and staring in the door/windows means this was really just a vanity purchase.

Slowly we made our way around the atrium, dodging strollers, ducking selfies, navigating human obstacles and trying not to get whacked by canes and walkers as their owners spun unconsciously to take in the surroundings. I can’t imagine the misery had I been confined to my crutches back then – bad enough being just out of the boot for the first go-around and praying I got through without further injury.

The Hummingbirds were my favorites. Not sure I recognize the species they were trying to recreate, but I am pretty much North American based in my birding knowledge and they could easily have taken inspiration from a world source (just giving them the benefit of doubt ha). Hard to go wrong with a Hummingbird really, especially ones adorned with flowers. Note the cool looking nest in the shot below.

Decided to go ahead and put this shot in below as it gave the best look at the detail in their Hummers. I originally discarded it due to all the people. Not until just now writing up this post did I notice this shot also shows two eggs in the nest – did I mention it was Easter time – how fitting.

Another Hummer below. Pretty sure this was Linda’s favorite with all the purples in it. We lucked out, found a break in the crowd and was able to get a nice shot of Linda next to it. I can see that going on our Christmas card so I’ll save that shot for later in the year.

Back to the beginning with the three hatching chicks. With the wider look, things got a bit concerning. All I could think of is that it looked like a small Raptor coming in over the top of the chicks looking for breakfast. Even the look on the bird to the right seemed a bit troubling. Maybe they could play that out and morph this scene into a Halloween theme – just thinking out of the box!

Now is probably a good time to comment on this recent experience on the strip. In truth, for several years now we have been spending less and less time there. For the most part, it has played out for us. Not a lot really new in that area that isn’t a bar, mall or nightclub. Many of the attractions are showing their age or completely eliminated. Worst of all, you can’t go 5 feet on sidewalks without walking through a cloud of second hand weed. It is absolutely ridiculous on that front. We still regularly go to Vegas, but our time is predominantly spent at the out-casinos like Red Rocks (our favorite) in addition to a few in the Henderson area (some areas in that city have become really bad as of late as well). There are still excellent birding areas to enjoy and this year we went up into the mountains for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

As of now, there is little draw to deal with the crowds and parking situation on the strip. Even the (Chilean) Flamingos at the Flamingo Casino are underwhelming (see shot above). We will probably do like this year and just catch the Bellagio gardens and of course check the Mandalay House of Blues schedule to see if Steel Panther is playing. The rest of our past favorite places we can easily pass. Even driving by and seeing The Sphere didn’t have the same luster as it did last year. I just read an article describing the current decline in people on the strip and the concern it was generating by those that profit off of it. All I can say is, we are glad we didn’t buy a second house there when we were thinking about it in our younger years. Something to think about as we set our sights on Texas or Arizona.

Take care everyone, hope you enjoyed this more whimsical look at wildlife. Congrats again to Brad and Jan!