Tracy Aviary

Brandt and Blythe are participating in a fencing camp in Sandy this week.  As we will be driving into Salt Lake Valley Monday through Thursday, I thought it would be fun to do a different activity each day after camp, something we wouldn't be likely to do otherwise because of the drive involved.

Today, for our first activity, we went to the Tracy Aviary in Liberty Park.  None of us had ever been, and I must say, we were absolutely delighted with the aviary.  There are a wide variety of birds from all over the world, in habitats that made it pretty easy to see and watch them.  It is a beautiful spot, and we all enjoyed seeing the animals.  Blythe didn't want to miss anything and carried around the map making sure we saw each exhibit.  Brandt wanted a map so he, too, could follow along.  We fed ducks, tried to identify those birds that were endangered or threatened, and paused several times for a snack.

My favorite birds were the owls, especially the Great Grey Owl.  Brandt liked the owls too, but he was fonder of the Snowy Owl.  Blythe liked a type of ibis that shrieked most of the time we were by its enclosure.  It was funny.  We saw lots of birds pooping and the children made sure to point it out every single time.  We saw baby swallows in their nest being fed by a parent as we went to the bathroom.  There were eagles, and parrots, condors, and funny flamingos that danced and turned and stomped their feet to music only they could hear.  It was really a treat to see the birds, and on top of all that, it fulfilled a cub scout requirement for Brandt.
 

 

Baby birds in the bathrooms. 

Brandt said, "Take a funny picture of me," then he sneezed.

It was a funny picture!

Parrots in their nest.

This is the parrot B&B are looking at.

Brandt is trying to convince this parrot to sit on his finger.

The parrot wasn't interested.

 

Blythe favorite bird,

the shrieking ibis.

How does the wing span of the children compare to the California condor's?

They aren't even close! 

Upon leaving the aviary, we discovered a super cool fountain.  It's called the Seven Canyons Fountain and is a terrific, kid-friendly place to get really wet in the summer heat.  It is laid out like the seven canyons that drain into the Jordan River and then into the Great Salt Lake.  At the top of each "canyon" is a pool of water that flows down steps and gullies into a catch basin.  There were lots of kids playing, all soaking wet, and the kids were dying to get in.  I gave them free rein, but told them that I didn't have a change of clothes, so as wet as they got would be as wet as they were for the drive home.  The waded and splashed, but didn't actually get "into" the water.  We all thought it was a great place to play, and a fun way to end the day before our drive back to Provo.