I know that my first picture doesn't have two birds in it and the one bird that is in this picture is fake, not that fake birds aren't cool. Scroll down and you'll see some bona fide friends that get our hearts racing and our cameras clicking.
While vacationing in Florida and on our way to our final destination, New Smyrna Beach, we stopped at St Augustine. We visited St Augustine on one other occasion a few years ago, but we didn't drop by the Fountain of Youth. If you ever get a chance to visit this historically rich area, don't pass up the opportunity.
As soon as we made our way through the entrance to the Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park we were greeted by several Peacocks/Peafowl. These splendid birds were all over the place. I was told by one of the workers there, that within the park limits, over 100 Peacocks call this place home with one pair being Albino Peacocks.
White peafowl are often called albino, but albinism is a specific condition that causes red eyes and extremely pale skin. Albinism in peafowl is incredibly rare and largely unstudied.
Most white peafowl have normal-colored eyes and pigmented skin. Their feathers are white due to a genetic mutation known as leucism, which inhibits melanin from being deposited in their feathers. Leucism also affects buffalo, horses, giraffes, deer, axolotls, and other birds.
https://www.treehugger.com/albino-and-half-albino-peacocks-are-simply-stunning-photos-4858413
We were hoping to see this very rare bird, not that seeing the norm when it comes to Peacocks wasn't a thrill, but we wanted to catch the aberration.
After spending several hours there, capturing at least 100 photos of all kinds of historical jewels, it was time to leave. Before getting back in the car, @farm-mom needed to hit up the lady's room. By a stroke of luck, there they were sitting on a branch that hung over the entrance to the restrooms.
The second Peacock was hanging out on a branch just above the pair in the first picture. I was super excited and my trigger finger was ready to do its thing, snap away. Guess what happened next? No, the Peacocks didn't fly away, rather, the battery to the camera went stone-cold dead, BIG BUMMER.
If I had only taken fewer pictures of everything else, I could have caught some more pics of this rare bird.
In a future round of SMaP, I hope to share with the #featheredfriends community some more pics of this stunning bird.
It's always a lot of fun participating in this contest and seeing what others have posted, all of which is made possible due to the efforts of these three gals, thanks, ladies. @nelinoeva, @melinda010100, and @barbara-orenya.
