Hornbill in Flight

Trien and had finished napping, and were getting ready to go into town when I heard a familiar "laughing" sound outside our window. She didn't know what was wrong, and why I suddenly shot out of bed. I grabbed my camera, and ran to the balcony to try to get some pictures. It was the call of a hornbill.

Sure enough, it was sitting on the roof of the house across from our apartment. It seemed to be calling for its mate, and waiting for an answer. There was no answer coming, and I wondered if something had happened to its mate.

When she was presentable, Trien came out and we watched the hornbill for a couple of minutes. Then we had to leave, because she was hungry, and you don't want to keep a hungry Mommy-to-be waiting.

When we got outside, the hornbill was still sitting on the roof of the house, calling out for its mate and preening itself. (That's just what Trien had been doing only a couple of minutes before. It's amazing how much like humans animals can be!) So I walked over carefully in order not to frighten it, and took a few more pictures, two of which are shown here. Trien waited for me for about 30 seconds, then started waddling her way toward the Lake Gardens, and into town.



After a couple of minutes of moving around beneath it snappin pictures and trying to capture the right pose, I must have moved in to closely, or moved too quickly, and the hornbill flew away into one of the trees behind the house. In that moment, I took a quick reflex shot, trying to catch its flight. I wasn't even sure if I got anything but blank sky. When I reviewed the picture, this is the shot I had taken. I think it is a really nice shot. It looks like it could be used as a logo for something. For me, it was one of those perfect Zen moments of "don't think, just do", that bring out the best results in art.