Photo: Hurricane Idalia Brought Flamingos To The South Carolina Coast
Have you ever been lucky enough to come across a flamingo or maybe even a flock of flamingos in the wild? One thing on my bucket list is the get up close and personal with a flamingo. There is a hotel in Aruba that owns a private island full of flamingos and whenever I come up with a spare couple thousand dollars I will be booking a trip there. But for a short time, there is a chance of seeing Flamingos on the South Carolina coast. The birds essentially caught a ride with Hurricane Idalia which impacted the United States last week.
WPDE (Myrtle Beach) Meteorologist Ed Piotrowski shared a photo from a viewer on Facebook of a pink flamingo sighted at Bulls Island which is near Awendaw over the weekend. According to his post, he mentions that the birds have also been sighted in North Carolina and even Ohio. A Tampa Florida news station I follow on social media also shared photos of some flamingos that had landed in the area on Sanibel Island.
Wait Flamingos Can Fly?
And while you may have never seen it, Flamingos actually do fly! The winds of the fast-moving storm most likely made those flights a little less strenuous than normal, allowing the birds to travel north at much greater distances than they typically would have. And good for them, they deserve to see the world!
The birds will eventually make their way back to their southern homes. But what a treat for anyone who comes across flamingos in South Carolina or any of the other unusual locations they are currently visiting. I tend to say I don’t like animals I’m not expecting to see, and while that’s true, I’d make an exception in this case. Even as someone who is notoriously afraid of birds, I do love and relate to a flamingo. Perhaps it’s the pink color (it is), the way they stand on one leg (the former dancer in me often stands the same way), or the way the animals stand out but still blend in in large groups. Safe travels to all the pink flamingos as they migrate back to tropical climates.
