Flamingos at the Festival of Birds 2015
In spite of the potential for freezing weather and the flurries of snow elsewhere in the country, the flamingos were out and about and able to put on a good show for this year's Festival of Birds. The only flock to kept inside being the lessers, who being small and quite delicate, don't really like being blown around by the wind. How are, it is the lesser flamingos that are putting on a good show at the moment, even if they are indoors. There has been lots of courtship display from this group of little flamingos and even some attempts at mating. Alas, I wasn't able to get a clear photo of the "main event" so you'll just have to take my word for it. There's definitely something in the air with the lesser flock at present... So birds to look out for, "LCY" and "LFD". Getting very close and personal, if you catch my drift. And two very bright males, "LFS" and "LCF" that are currently looking quite dashing (as much as a flamingo can be dashing) in their breeding colours.
The Caribbeans were out and about and showing a nice patchwork array of different shades of red. There was film crew at WWT Slimbridge on Friday that had specifically driven up from London to film the colours of the Caribbeans. All species of flamingo fade and brighten in and out of the breeding season. But this change is most dramatic in the Caribbeans. White birds, potentially parents from the previous year, can sometimes take a whole year to recover. This cyclic pattern of reproduction mirrors what is seen in wild flocks too.
Have a look out for pairs beginning to trail away from the main group and mooch around together. A good behaviour to look out for, to see who likes whom, are birds bathing together. Generally, as a rule, birds that bathe in close proximity to each other, are going to be "friends" on some basic level.
So whilst it is still a time of winter migrants, there is some cool stuff going on with the flamingos too, even if they do come into their own more so in the summer. Thank you to all that came along to the flamingo talk at the Festival of Birds, and keep enjoying the antics of the flamingos on your next visit to Slimbridge.
