Animal Planet: Birds

Had our annual planning session. I felt it was an OK event, albeit initially complaining about having it at the Birdpark.

Being in a different environment, many of those present seem to let loose and allow their inquisitive nature to take over. One came over to our table during lunch and asked us why flamingos stood on one leg. In reality, it really still is a mystery. Some people think that it helps blood circulate through the flamingo's long legs. Others suggest that it turns part of its brain off when it sleeps. The leg that is up is hence linked to the part of the bird's brain that is asleep. Well, if you spot a colleague with two legs off the ground in his or her cubicle, chances are, they are asleep.









During the break, we rushed off to make the best out of our visit to the park. We managed to catch a macaw show just before it ended. There was one macaw who could sing, one who could pull a bucket tied to a rope, one who could draw like picasso, one who could differentiate paper from plastic bottles to be recycled etc. Perhaps, the only one that really caught my attention was this one, who took the liberty of doing a number in the beckground while the performance was still on.



After a couple more sessions in the function room, we came back out to watch birds again. We started off at a place with nocturnal animals.









While we were at this section, someone queried on how the owl turns its head completely around. Owls have both eyes in the front. This gives them good depth perception. Unfortunately, it means they can’t see sideways or backwards. To deal with this, owls can turn their head almost all the way around. Management are often like owls. People, unlike owls, can't turn their heads 180 degrees. Most guys at the top can only see one view, the view ahead of them. Sometimes, they really can't see whats happening to people beside or below them...haha.

Also, we visited an area where there were tons of penguins seperated from us by a glass panel.



Some people just loved looking at the way the penguins waddle. Heck we even have a Head named after it! The waddling motion adjusts for limitations of the size of their legs and their weight which actually conserves energy. This really explains why people waddle to our cubicles to share work so very often.