This is not the bird I remember.
My chauffeur, Barb, and I ventured to Alton, IL April 12 to see if we could find the Piasa Bird: that majestic bird of folklore composed of the winged body of a lion and antlered head of some strange bird, but what we found is shown in this barely recognizable photograph. Where the bird I remembered from the 1990’s was painted orange, blue, red and yellow — the ferocious bird I introduced to my impressionable young son — this one is the colors that you barely distinguish: mostly 2 shades of red like a flag and then barely visible tan lines along the head. What a disappointment!
Here for your enjoyment are links to the Piasa Bird if you would like more information. Meanwhile I wish I’d had a decent camera in the 1990’s so I could have captured that terrifying bird and my son’s face the first time he saw it.
http://www.altonweb.com/history/piasabird/
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt/PARKS/R4/PRM/Piabrd.htm
