Black and white photo of three gulls on a groyne
Birds,  Sunday Stills,  Themed galleries,  Thursday Trios

Gallery: feathered friends in threes

May 27, 2022 / 24 Comments

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

English proverb

Or so they say. I wonder what three are worth? Interestingly, while doing a little research on this saying, I learned that the very first version of it actually mentions three rather than two:

It is more sekyr [certain] a byrd in your fest,

Than to haue three in the sky a‐boue

John Capgrave’s The Life of St Katharine of Alexandria, 1450

I’m running a little late for Terri’s Sunday Stills Feathered Friends theme, so I thought I’d double up with Thursday Trios and share some photos of bird threesomes from around the world, as well as some taken close to home.

Three large pink birds flying overhead

Flamingos in flight over the Salar de Atacama in Chile

Three large white and grey birds with yellow beaks

Waved Albatross on Isla Española in the Galápagos

Two white birds and one grey in long wet grass

Two Little Egrets and a Grey-headed Gull, Chobe River bank, Botswana

Three black and white speckled birds

Helmeted Guineafowl on the Chobe River bank, Botswana

Three large brown birds on a pile of pale soil

White-backed Vultures on a termite mound, Chobe National Park, Botswana

Three shiny blue birds on a dead branch

One Purple and two Blue Glossy Starlings at Fathala Lodge, Senegal

Three brown birds in a tree

Black Kites near Mandina Lodge in Gambia (yes, I know they’re brown, but believe me, they’re Black!)

Three brown birds on a river bank with slender tree trunks

Senegal Thick-knees among the mangroves on the Gambia River

Three grey birds on a wooden boat

Western Reef Herons on a village boat on the Gambia River

Three large white birds with their heads dipped in the water

Closer to home now, three Pelicans in St James’s Park, London

[my feature photo of young Herring Gulls on a groyne was also taken quite close to home, in Whitstable, Kent]

Large white bird swimming, followed by two smaller grey ones

And finishing just down the road with a swan and cygnets in Syon Park, west London

24 Comments

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