A rare experience

A few weeks back Alex and I made our usual trek to the bus stop to pick Ajay up.  Alex asked if he could take Brother's binoculars and I told him he could.  He enjoyed looking through both ends, making everything on our street look either larger or smaller. 
After collecting Ajay from the bus we made our way back home.  As we were walking I spotted something brightly colored in a tree. 

Can you see what that is?  It is a macaw, hanging upside down in a tree just two houses down from our house!  The boys were not the only ones excited about this. 

Turns out the owner of the bird was over mowing his brothers yard (lucky guy!).  This bright red fellow is 25 years old.  Amazing.  He kept screeching and Alex kept asking "Why is he saying 'AAAAHHHHH'?" (I'm sure you can imagine what that sounded like coming from a 2.5 year old!  Even a couple of days later, Alex was saying "Mom!  The bird said AAAAHHHH!") 

The owner got the bird from the tree and told the boys they could "shake hands" with him.  They both declined, but I gladly accepted.  When I reached forward he leaned his BEAK forward!  The owner pulled him back and politely told him no.  We tried again and this time he extended his claw (talon?).  Ajay thought it would be the perfect opportunity to use those binoculars Alex had so thoughtfully brought along!

 

When we left the guy put the bird up on the porch so he could finish mowing.  As we were walking away we heard a few more loud screeches.  It was a pretty neat experience - for all three of us!  And you can bet the boys were very eager to get home and tell Daddy all about it!