The Fuji Kachoen Garden Park is, according to its website, a "paradise of flowers and birds" nestled in the countryside of Shizuoka Prefecture.

One day in late October, a boy was looking at some of the feathered denizens of the park. As he crouched down near the water, quietly observing birds with a notebook in hand, little did he realize that he was also being observed, and not by the flamingo in front of him in the water.

A flamingo came behind him, and stretched its long neck right over his head as if it were curious to learn what the boy was doing.

Reproduced with permission from E&K (@EK63268661)

"Good morning. (Here's) a flamingo peering (down) at my son who was (busy) observing."

According to the owner of the account at E&K (@EK63268661), a private breeder of call ducks, sugar gliders, honey bears, and Senegal bushbabies based in Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture, their son was observing flamingos and ibises at the park when it happened.

The boy, who aspires to become a zoologist when he grows up, wanted to sketch the birds so he could later find out exactly what species they were.

Even if it was only temporary, it almost looked as if the boy was wearing a crested Roman legionnaire's helmet, like this one:

bazilfoto | © PIXTA

Crests in helmets like these, known as Galea, were usually made of horsehair and were black, brown or red in the natural color of horsehair since it was difficult to dye in vegetable dyes, but sometimes they were also made of feathers. Flamingo feathers were probably not included, however.

You can see the flamingo actually resting its neck on the boy's head, making an even a tighter-fitting "helmet" in this picture:

Reproduced with permission from E&K (@EK63268661)

Apparently, the boy continued his observations even when he was aware of his newly acquired "crest" of pink feathers on his head...

Some of the comments elicited by the surprising photos were:

  • "It's wonderful that your son is complete unfazed. A future scholar? (...)" [translated]
  • "I really respect how composed he is knowing what's going on." [translated]
  • "It's like a topknot!" [translated]
  • "Flamingo: Ah, the perfect neck rest..." [translated]
  • "Flamingo: Catch any fish?" [translated]
  • "Flamingo: YALL got games on yo phone?"

The unusual sight certainly seems to have bemused and surprised many Twitter users!

The account owner hopes that these images can bring a bit of laughter to the world.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.