Flamingo Friday: “it was…a tinge like a blush…”

(quote courtesy of Mrs. Dalloway)
Imagine my pleasure and surprise when I approached the flamingo enclosure yesterday morning and saw, for the first time, a hint of pink in the coloring of one of the flamingelehs!


It really did look as if the juvenile were slightly flushed from some teenage embarrassment, but I suspect that for number 29 (the younger of the two) this sign of oncoming maturity is a welcome one, especially as number 28 looks decidedly grey, still, next to her:

[note too how mallards
still sabotage my photos]

I suspect that number 29 gloats about it and makes a point of saying "Everything looks so ROSY--I mean, present company excepted" around number 28, and number 28 feigns a cool, sophisticated indifference while secretly writing melancholy poetry about the bitter injustice of plumage and the world.

But I won’t presume to speculate about the rich inner lives and jealousies of young flamingos, who no doubt Facebook about these topics themselves anyway (“Matilda has updated her status to ‘Nearly Pink’; Hepzibah and Matilda are no longer friends”). I will say, though, that it looks as if their plumage is coming in nicely, and that by next year at this time they’ll probably look like this:


Something that every young flamingo can aim for.

{A note: I do write all text and take all pictures. Please do not reproduce either without my permission.}