For anyone wanting even more photos of amazing birds, check out this Cornell Ornithology Lab video. These two guys have been going into New Guinea’s rain forest for a decade and have a platform up a tree. And an amazing lens.
I won’t be going there, but I’m glad they did!
Thanks to Barry Jewell for sharing this video.
Isabel
Can you not imagine being there with your camera? Why wouldn’t you just love to be there?
Tom
Tom – Oh, I dunno. There’s just something about slogging through mud up hill and down in gum boots, passing snakes and big insects, and overheating due to the temps and humidity that sorta puts me off.
Isabel
You will recall that, on September 6, I went on the CN Tower EdgeWalk. Standing out there on a rather small ledge, 1150 feet up, is an interesting experience. The most common reaction I received from people when they knew I was going was, “Are you nuts?”
But turn it into a metaphor for life, and what I learned from it was that edges are not necessarily to be feared.
Does that help?
Tom
Tom – I will take it under advisement. 🙂
And those are all one species, which we call Bird of Paradise? Amazing. They look like everything from Batman to, well, Dracula…. There are times when I almost wish I hadn’t wasted my time on words, words, and more damn words, when there’s so much beauty in birds.
Jim T
Jim – Yes, I know what you mean about words. But I figure we each do what we do and it all fits together.
Wonderful images from Paradise. But so are your photos, Isabel. Too many people are invading exotic places as it is. And, if I may say so, there’s a lot still to be learned at home. 🙂
Laurna – Well, you make a good point about exotic tourism and other intrusions. On the one hand, we connect better with people and places in person; on the other, we risk trampling what we seek. Again, maybe Alison’s point (oops – on the other post about mortality/time) applies: Look for a middle way. Some exposure to far-off places, but being aware that we can damage them. In the case of a tree-house-style blind in the canopy of New Guinea’s rainforest (accessible by some funky rope and pulley system), I think this is not for me.