Art where you least expect it

Now, this is not my typical blog post subject, but since this week's SMAP theme is Birds and Art... it's a good time to showcase some of the cool stuff that appears when you least expect it! And I happen to have some examples from three different countries, including my own.

And starting with Portugal, with one of our iconic birds: storks! We can find them nesting or perching almost everywhere, in cliffs by the sea, in the middle of the a city... and even in chimneys.

I was walking to do some birdwatching in salt flats in Tavira, a city in south Portugal, and as I was passing near some abandoned buildings... I found this little gem!

Funny how I couldn't find anything related to this! I've tried searching online about it, but came up with zero. And truth be told, an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere was the last place where I would think of finding something like this; but even for a non artistic person, this looks pretty cool!

Maybe loving birds makes me kind of biased, true, but this is probably one of the coolest bird art that I've found.

The fact that this is very near a nice birdwatching area just makes it funnier, and it probably has no relation whatsoever.

Meanwhile, in another birdwatching area in nearby Spain, another art form, this one already known to me for a loooong time.

In the interpretation center El Acebuche, in Doñana national park, you can find this funny representation of what seem to me geese flying. Again, couldn't find any clue about who made this or if it represents anything. But I did knew this existed because 20 years ago, I visited this same park with friends, and we goofed around taking photos of us running away from the birds.

Of course, I got older, but that doesn't mean I behave better, so seeing this sculpture again prompted us to redo the same footage again! :) I say "us" because a good friend that was visiting the park with me, was also present 20 years ago!

Going far, far away, to Iceland, another work of art, this one I actually found what it is!

This is a representation of a great auk, a species now extint. There is a known statue exactly like this, is made of bronze, and it's not this one, because for what I've researched, it's in a totally different location. This one is probably a replica, and I've found it right near the sea, in Reykjavik! Still, it was fun again to find something like this in the middle of nowhere. I wonder who placed it there!

Art for now, and likely real birds in the next post! Have a great weekend!

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