Those who've followed my blogs know that I have a fascination with birds. I'm not sure why; in part it may be because they go about their business as if we weren't there, and in part because they land and live in ways that make ironic comment on our own lives.
Here, from a recent week in Portugal, are a few that caught my eye.
Aside from occasionally roosting in odd places, as above, I'm always on the lookout for those who like to get up close with people. Sometimes that's real people, like this street artist, setting up to work. And sometimes it's perching on a statue. At least, in the one below, they haven't (so far) fouled the nest.
If the lion is king of the beasts, it's news to this pigeon who thinks himself king of the lion. Next up, patrolling a roof edge at the National Tile Museum.
Fancier birds strut with pride, but no one's more efficient at clearing the table after breakfast as these pigeons at the cafe of the Gulbenkian Museum.
And speaking of Gulbenkian, here's Calouste Gulbenkian himself, seated with a bird at the museum he endowed. A sometimes shadowy and always powerful financier, he made fortunes in Britain, France, Portugal and his native Armenia and amassed huge art collections that became the foundation of the museum.
And a few more, from a previous trip: A proud peacock, a white peacock and a pesky pigeon on marble locks.
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