Today Jung took me to the Fonghuanggu Bird and Ecology Park in Lugu Township, Taichung. Had the best time! The bird park is on a mountain. You walk down to the waterfall and it is down hill!!!! Thank goodness they took us back up on a golf cart. The park is beautiful! They have amazing birds, but my favorite part was the hike and scenery. I loved the mushrooms I found. The swinging bridge was good. Nothing like the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge Mike, Tammy, and I did in Ireland, but still really good. When I arrived, the educator at the bird park gave me this really cool hat!!! Looks like Daddy’s a little bit. I will have to wear it to church when I go with Daddy sometime. Mable Johnson will really think I look like him.
I saw these in the trees all over the place. Found out they are ant nests! I though they were hornet nests–like we have. I tried to find a website about, them but I could not find anything. I did find one interesting fact in a book–Citrus growers of southeast Asia used this ant to protect their trees, which is the first known case of using a biological organism to control plant pests. So cool!!!
Meeting the birds was fun. I think the white chickens look like some my Grandpa Patrick had. They were the meanest chickens!!!! He let them out in the yard and they would chase me. He would get me to feed them. I was scared to death of those things. At the end of the day, I got to feed the birds–love birds and amazon parrots (Daddy had one for years). Feeding Birds at Fonghuanggu Bird and Ecology Park. You might think I am holding my arm up because of the weight of the birds. You would be WRONG!! I am hold my arm up because of all the flab hanging down. I think it was flapping around and scaring the birds–hehehehehehehehe!!!
For a little while, Daddy had a peacock named Pete or Peanut depending on who you asked. This will come as no shock to those of you who know my family. We have had a lot of animals over the years. I hawk with a broken wing, raccoon that opened the front door to sit in Daddy’s lap and eat grapes, plenty of dogs and cats, white mice (me), gerbil (me), hamster (me), and pygmy goats (Daddy–Craven Millican will never forget the trip to pick them up! At least we did not have them in the car–like Daddy did, that is whole other story). Sadly, Daddy had to give Pete/Peanut away, because he got mean. I think he would love it here!
In the afternoon we had a real Taiwan tea service. I have had proper tea in England. Now I have had proper tea in Taiwan. At the Bird Park is Shanlingsi Tea. Go! Go! Go! If you ever visit the park. The lady serving the tea is so nice. She gave me a gift bag with two kinds of tea and a tea cup. It was so much fun. They grow the tea in town at the base of the mountain. So she get the tea I was drinking! The tea server sits on one side of the table and you sit on the other side. She brews the tea and pours it into a small thin cup. Then you pour it into the shorter cup, smell it, and drink it. I love hot tea so this was perfect! Proper Tea at Shanlingsi Tea Shop Fonghuanggu Bird and Ecology Park
