Pittsburgh, for real!

Okay, now we live in Pittsburgh.

For REAL.

We took a break from the endless unpacking 

(and breaking things) to tour a little in our new city.

First stop:  the National Aviary

I'll bet you didn't even know we HAD a national aviary.

Neither did I.

This toucan was so exciting,

we didn't even notice the sloth sharing a cage with him.

Good thing we doubled back.

The sloth was so slow, 

we didn't miss much.

Most of the birds are in these lovely tropical gardens.

It looks like the Krohn Conservatory

but with birds.  

They are really approachable.

In the flamingo room there were owls in a cage.

It smelled in here.

Like birds.

Or rather, bird crap.

We didn't stay long.

Like I said, 

the birds were REALLY approachable.

I didn't even bring the big zoom lens.

Hello cutie penguin!

You can stand on a big rock and look down on the penguins.

There is a sign that says 

"Penguins bite".

So, I climbed up on the rock to get a good photo.

I guess the lens hanging down reminded the penguins of herring,

and it was nearly lunch time for them.

One shimmied right up to me

and SCARED THE CRAP out of me.

Mr. laughed.

But I am a rule follower

and I took the "Penguins bite" advice to heart.

Don't worry, no penguins or people were harmed during these photos.

That's because there is a big, safe clear tunnel 

to stand inside.

Lucky for us, this penguin was happy to pose.

Imagine how dumb these photos would look

if no penguin was nearby.

He looked RIGHT at me.

I felt like the penguin whisperer.

See, approachable.

I have never seen a bird like this.

This is a Kookaburra.

From the children's song.  

Mr. sang it.

The whole rest of our visit.

Except the Kookaburra never once laughed.

I guess we aren't that funny.

Aren't we just a bunch of

bird brains!