Pink Flamingo sighting!

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10-19-2006, 02:44 PM
jobob

Pink Flamingo sighting!

So, Lee and I are on vacation right now (we're heading down to Solvang tomorrow).

We went for a short ride late this morning, just our usual loop on the AC trail out to the bay & around Coyote Hills park.

On the trail around Coyote Hills,we're passing a shallow inlet of the bay and Lee points out, asking " is that a flamingo ...? "

Well yes indeedy it was. A very pink, very live flamingo, just strolling around in the shallow water on his very long very skinny legs, letting out a squack every now & then. I cannot begin to tell you how cool that was to see. :)

no camera, naturally.... :p
10-19-2006, 03:01 PM
SadieKate

Wow! A stray from a zoo?
10-19-2006, 03:03 PM
jobob

That's what we figured.

And nooo, we didn't have a 3-martini lunch beforehand in case anyone is wondering ... :D
10-19-2006, 03:32 PM
chickwhorips

Quote:

Originally Posted by jobob

And nooo, we didn't have a 3-martini lunch beforehand in case anyone is wondering ... :D

there goes my question.... http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i2...1323/drunk.gif
10-19-2006, 04:22 PM
velogirl

When I saw your subject line, I thought you'd be referring to the Flamingo House in LaHonda/Pescadero. There's a house on the Pescadero Loop with 1,000s of pink flamingos on the lawn (not the live kind). For each holiday, the owners would decorate them (ie santa hats for Christmas, witch's hats for Halloween, etc). Unfortunately, the house was sold a couple of years ago. The new owners had said they would continue the tradition, but there are now only a handful of flamingos left.....
10-19-2006, 04:30 PM
Veronica

And I immediately thought someone had given you some of Rose and Clyde's friends,like these.

V.

http://tandemhearts.com/coppermine/a.../day-03-02.jpg
10-19-2006, 04:57 PM
SadieKate

So the flamingos have names along with the rocks? :D

I had thought the same thing as you until I remembered the Bobs weren't camping, though I suppose they could have brought a few friends along . . .
10-19-2006, 05:02 PM
Veronica

Quote:

Originally Posted by SadieKate

So the flamingos have names along with the rocks? :D

Yep, but I can't tell them apart.

V.
10-19-2006, 05:55 PM
Trekhawk

Quote:

Originally Posted by jobob

So, Lee and I are on vacation right now (we're heading down to Solvang tomorrow).

We went for a short ride late this morning, just our usual loop on the AC trail out to the bay & around Coyote Hills park.

On the trail around Coyote Hills,we're passing a shallow inlet of the bay and Lee points out, asking " is that a flamingo ...? "

Well yes indeedy it was. A very pink, very live flamingo, just strolling around in the shallow water on his very long very skinny legs, letting out a squack every now & then. I cannot begin to tell you how cool that was to see. :)

no camera, naturally.... :p

LOL - first a Peacock on Sunday( ok it was squashed but it still counts) and now a Flamingo you are becoming quite the Ornithologist. Have a good holiday.:)
10-19-2006, 08:19 PM
jobob

Quote:

Originally Posted by SadieKate

I had thought the same thing as you until I remembered the Bobs weren't camping, though I suppose they could have brought a few friends along . . .

We'll be camping in Big Sur from Sunday thru Wednesday. Don't plan to bring any flamingos tho (live or inflatable)
10-19-2006, 08:21 PM
snapdragen

Quote:

Originally Posted by jobob

We'll be camping in Big Sur from Sunday thru Wednesday. Don't plan to bring any flamingos tho (live or inflatable)

But I've got a small flock that would love to go with you!!!
10-19-2006, 08:30 PM
jobob

Maybe they can join us on the grad ride next Saturday ?
10-19-2006, 08:31 PM
snapdragen

Quote:

Originally Posted by jobob

Maybe they can join us on the grad ride next Saturday ?

Oh! Good idea. I'm considering decorating the Suby.....
10-20-2006, 06:09 PM
yellow

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trekhawk

LOL - first a Peacock on Sunday( ok it was squashed but it still counts)

waitaminutehere! You saw a squashed peacock on Sunday? And I didn't know this? Where was I when this was discussed? I feel sooooo out of the loop.
10-20-2006, 07:45 PM
SadieKate

Sorry. There are a ton of peacocks that have gone feral around Pardhesa's Store (where we stopped to remove arm warmers near the end). I'll try to find some for you next time.
10-20-2006, 08:15 PM
snapdragen

Squashed or still strutting? :rolleyes:
10-20-2006, 08:47 PM
yellow

I just can't imagine what a squashed one looks like. Live...yeah, whatever. But SQUASHED??? Those birds are huge!
10-21-2006, 09:28 AM
Trekhawk

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellow

I just can't imagine what a squashed one looks like. Live...yeah, whatever. But SQUASHED??? Those birds are huge!

LOL - yep I guess it had been hit by a car. Imagine the poor driver, not the sort of thing you expect to hit.:eek:
10-21-2006, 06:44 PM
liberty

Pink Flamingo Insurance

Have you guys heard of the Pink Flamingo Fundraiser? Ten years ago I was working at a church who did this fundraiser. Here's the deal: The youth group was trying to raise money for something. They gave the congregation a chance to buy Pink Flamingo Insurance, and after the cut-off date all people who hadn't purchased the insurance would face the risk of a plastic pink flamingo showing up on their front lawn. The flamingo could not be removed until a fee/bribe had been paid. They made a ton off this! Helps if people are highly sensitive to having the perfect yard. :) When I saw the title for this thread, I thought for sure someone was bringing the Pink Flamingo Insurance to TE...
10-22-2006, 08:18 PM
Geonz

I read in a link from somebody's blog today that a major manufacturer of pink flamingo lawn ornaments has stopped making them and is shutting down the business. It was a US company; and here I assumed they were Chinese sweatshop specials!!! (Somehow, I just don't think there will ever be a shortage, and I just can't quite see them becoming collector's items. Who knows, though?)
When I googled "pink flamingo" and clicked "news" ... it seems to be a well-covered story...
10-23-2006, 11:22 AM
chickwhorips

bummer. now where am i going to get the pink flamingos to put all over a co-workers lawn?
10-23-2006, 12:28 PM
Lise

A squashed peacock.

.....

stunned silence

.....

shaking head.
10-23-2006, 01:41 PM
SadieKate

My SIL had their lawn "flocked" for his birthday. Apparently, Clearwater, FL (and maybe other towns) has a company who will put the appropriate number of plastic flamingos on your lawn during the night and then pick them up a day later.

Lisa, the central valley of CA seems to be very hospitable to peacocks but they can be mighty loud as neighbors.
10-23-2006, 03:14 PM
snapdragen

Yup there is a bay area company that will to flockings. Or herds if you prefer cows.....:eek:
12-02-2006, 03:33 PM
jobob

Well tickle me pink - flamingo update !

Lee & I thought we saw the flamingo a couple of times over the past month, in the same cove where we saw him the first time, but at a distance so we weren't positive.

Well, we were riding along the Coyote Hills again this morning, and we stopped at the overlook to that cove to pull off our armwarmers, and there he was ! He was close enough that there was no mistaking it.

I was wondering how he was doing during our recent cold snap, or whether he hitched a ride south, but he seems fine, and still as pink as all get-out.

And to top it off, there were witnesses, which proves he's not a figment of our imagination. ;)

Since he's apparently a fixture, he deserves a name.

I shall call him Seymour.
12-02-2006, 05:48 PM
Trekhawk

Quote:

Originally Posted by jobob

Lee & I thought we saw the flamingo a couple of times over the past month, in the same cove where we saw him the first time, but at a distance so we weren't positive.

Well, we were riding along the Coyote Hills again this morning, and we stopped at the overlook to that cove to pull off our armwarmers, and there he was ! He was close enough that there was no mistaking it.

I was wondering how he was doing during our recent cold snap, or whether he hitched a ride south, but he seems fine, and still as pink as all get-out.

And to top it off, there were witnesses, which proves he's not a figment of our imagination. ;)

Since he's apparently a fixture, he deserves a name.

I shall call him Seymour.

Wow how very cool. I think a Flamingo sighting (or sightings should I say) might be hard to top.:D
12-03-2006, 08:36 AM
SadieKate

Pics! Or we shall just consider you a loaded bob until them.:D

Write a letter to your newspaper. Tell them the name. Maybe we'll get some news footage up here ala Humphrey the Whale.
12-03-2006, 08:42 AM
jobob

But I am a loaded bob ...

I'll see what I can do. Obviously you guys ain't gonna believe me till then.

:p <---matches Seymour
12-03-2006, 10:17 AM
snapdragen

Keen an eye out for this guy too - an East African Crane

http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_333165239.html
12-03-2006, 01:52 PM
jobob

Too funny ! I was biking out that way yesterday.

Then again, unless he was hanging out at the Carvel Ice Cream Shop next to Chain Reaction Cycles in Los Altos, I might not have noticed him ...:rolleyes:
12-03-2006, 02:43 PM
jobob

Introducing Seymour !

OK, all ye Sayers of Nay, here he is ! :p

Here's the overlook to what we now call Flamingo Cove in Coyote Hills Park, where Seymour likes to hang out.

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ingo_cove2.jpg

I clambered down the slope to the shoreline, but even so he was a bit of a ways out. I did the best I could with my little 3x zoom set to the highest resolution, but these pics still have a bit of a Loch Ness Monster quality to them. But still, there be no mistakin' :)

So there you have 'em.

I wonder if he might have escaped from the same place as the African crane ?

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...6/seymour1.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...6/seymour4.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...6/seymour5.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...6/seymour6.jpg
12-03-2006, 03:29 PM
snapdragen

Yep. That's a flamingo alright. I shall no longer think you nutz ...well, not totaly nutz, just a little bit nutz:D
12-03-2006, 03:30 PM
Trekhawk

Cool shots Jo!!

Poor Seymour he must be wondering why the rest of the flock is short and white.:D
12-03-2006, 03:55 PM
snapdragen

He kinda reminds me of a parakeet (budgie for you aussie gals) I saw. Obviously an escapee, he was hanging out with a flock of sparrows. One bright green little bird amongst all the brown sparrows.
12-03-2006, 04:12 PM
jobob

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trekhawk

Cool shots Jo!!

Poor Seymour he must be wondering why the rest of the flock is short and white.:D

He's almost always by himself. I guess no-one else out there speaks flamingo. Poor guy. :(

There are also a lot of egrets and pelicans out there, so if you're not really expecting to see him, it's easy to mistake him for one of those.
12-08-2006, 07:16 AM
JLD

Wow! Lucky for you for the siting! We had a stray pink flamingo here a few years back. The story was he was disoriented, having come Way too north, when he should have gone south. I didn't get a chance to go and see, but all the birders around here, with cars, lined up on the road, to get a better look. ..............I DID see my First wild turkey two weeks ago, on a planning car trip, west of Ottawa. That was pretty neat. But a flamingo--that would have been Way neater!
12-08-2006, 07:57 AM
jobob

I saw Seymour again today on my early morning ride. Now that I know it's him I can pick out the little pinkish blob on the far side of the cove, which is his early am hangout place.

But a flamingo in Canada, that's really something !
12-08-2006, 11:02 AM
Trekhawk

I havent seen anything as exciting as a Flamingo but on one of my rides this week out on a country road I cycled past 100 to 150 Canadian Geese.They were hanging around a farmers pond. It was so cool to see them and hear all the honking. A local told me they come to that farm every year.:)

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