The Birds of Isola Madre

Back in August and September of last year, I  had several posts about visiting the islands on Lake Maggiore in Italy. All of my previous posts centered on Isola Bella, the most prominent island. (That is the one with the large and elaborate villa and garden.)
Today's post is about the first island we visited, Isola Madre known specifically for its gardens.  When we arrived, we followed the path up to the gardens surrounded by gorgeous lake views and lush greenery.

But when we got to the top, we started to see some rather colorful birds roaming freely among the manicured gardens while totally ignoring the multitudes of tourists and the clicking cameras.  They seemed perfectly happy to be the center of attention.  I'm not positive of the exact breed of these birds but they appear to be in the pheasant family.

However, this fellow I recognized immediately.  There must have been 10 or 12 of these gorgeous peacocks along with a large flock of peahens as well.  They wandered from place to place occasionally posing for photos.

The colorful peacocks were also accompanied by the rather exotic white peacocks who also seemed to be well accustomed to all the attention.  This one decided to pose on top of one of the aviary buildings.

I followed the distinctive call of a rather loud peacock and found this fellow perched up in a tree.  He was difficult to see among the thick branches but his loud voice helped me zero in on him.

Our visit to this island of beautiful birds ended at a small, private garden centered around a pretty lily pond filled with both lilies and iris.  But something else was lurking in this pond.

After hearing another distinctive call, I spotted a group of green frogs sunning themselves on the lily pads while croaking loudly to each other.  They too, were quite happy to pose for a few photos.  What a totally delightful place to visit.