Giant Shoebill Picks Up Feathered Friend
“This duck got himself all in a flap after inadvertently straying into the path of a giant Shoebill while heading towards water. But it was all water off a duck’s back for the imposing 4ft tall bird which instead of eating his smaller friend, carefully picked him up in his beak and moved him aside. Despite its fearsome reputation as a predator around water, the Shoebill seemed more concerned with completing its journey than tucking into a feathered snack. These extraordinary pictures were captured by 51-year-old amateur photographer Mark Kay, at the San Diego Wild Animal Park in the U.S. Mr Kay said he spotted the endangered Shoebill standing alone and immediately grabbed his Canon 1 DS camera and started shooting. He said: ‘I was getting my camera out of the bag when I started to hear the ducks quacking. I immediately started shooting. ‘I thought the Shoebill was going to eat the duck, but soon realised he was moving him out of the way. ‘I suspect the duck had moved into his personal space. I have been back to the animal park a number of times, but have not captured anything as interesting there during my returns.” w/ photos
