Well, it's a , it's a , , , well, what is it?

Are we stepping back in to prehistoric times? What is this thing? A Pterodactyl? A Aepyornis?

We had to go to the Barclay bank this week. Not the branch close to home but the one right down town in the middle of the traffic nightmare. We parked in the first parking place we could find which happened to be several meters from the bank but walking was less hazardous than trying to get through the downtown gridlock (so we thought).

As we walked along the sidewalk dodging the pieces of broken concrete Farrell grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side just in time to miss being drenched in a bucket of . . .

I looked up in the tree and there sat 3 huge birds. One sat on a large nest while the other two perched on the branches. They were right in the top of this huge tree.

I was remembering my Congo days and my "pig poop" experience and I felt a great relief that Farrell was aware enough to pull me out of the line of fire. This is not some Utah Seagull or pigeon this is a very big bird that stands about 3 feet talll with a 6 foot wing span.

We have seen this bird flying through the air looking like an airplane with it's huge wings flapping.

We have seen them standing on water tanks on top of buildings.

We have seen them standing in the very tip top of large trees.

They are HUGE! They are UGLY! They are way too big to walk under when they are sitting way up in a tree.

But actually these are not the only odd birds here in Uganda. There are some huge crows that bombard our apartment every day cawing so loud you think they are right in the apartment with you. We haven't been able to catch a picture of the crows yet.

We have other strange long beak birds that sit on the roof top of the buildings surrounding our apartment.

All these birds are rather large and fly without any difficulty.

There are many beautiful, colorful birds of all sizes including parrots. At least we have been told there are many parrots but we havent' seen any yet.

Uganda's national bird is the Grey Crowned Crane. A beautiful bird that has become their treasured logo and is featured in their flag and coat of arms.

But my favorite are the Guinea hens with their black featheres, white dot markings, little splash of red on their head and their fat little bodies.

But the mystery remains as we try to identify these huge, ominous birds and we are at a loss . . . so here is the challenge my grannies:

The first one to identify this big, ugly bird wins a real Ugandan drum.

You are going to like it so get busy and identify this ugly prehistoric beast . . .