Fun things at the zoo

Cute grasshopper. There's still a few hanging around.

Stork in the African exhibit. At first I just thought he was showing off for me, then I realized a great egret had flown into his space and he was trying to scare him off.

Baby penguin is growing up.

Baby rhino running fast around the exhibit. He was having a blast.

Lorikeets munching on some Halloween leftovers.

Birds in the aviary preening each other.

The weather has just been too perfect. I don't want to jinx it but we've been lucky. On a Sunday afternoon I decided to head over to the zoo and hubby came with me. He even though it was too beautiful to stay inside and watch sports. It was crowded but not uncomfortable crowded. The weather had cooled off in the afternoon and most of the animals were very active. Very different than in the summer when the animals are sleeping all day from the heat.

Wild things at the zoo

First thing I saw at the zoo was a red bellied woodpecker. It was right at opening and no one else was around. The trees were full of them. Later when I was leaving I noticed they were all gone.

The zoo was full of these yellow flowers, which were full of bees.

Another late bloomer.  The above baby moorhen was swimming around the gibbon exhibit.

More butterfly art.

Yes, that's a gibbon holding on to the wing of an ibis. I was standing there looking at the baby moorhen when I heard a screaming from a bird. I looked over and the gibbon had grabbed the ibis by the wing when the ibis had wandered to close to the edge. I guess the gibbon thought it would be fun to play with. It was the mother gibbon who grabbed it. The baby gibbon was standing to the left of her.

The ibis started to peck at the gibbon with it's beak. The gibbon let go and was holding a handful of white feathers. I was about ready to jump in the pool to save the ibis (I'm sure the zoo would have loved that).

The captured ibis flew over to the wall once it was released. It seemed to be okay, just missing a few feathers.

On a recent weekend I was on call for work and needed to stay close to home. Since the zoo is only 15 minutes away I ran in for an hour. I hadn't been in several months. The last time I was there the baby spoonbills had left the nest and all I saw were a bunch of empty nests over the alligator exhibit. They won't be back until January or February. It was a pretty quiet morning. The biggest excitement was when the gibbon grabbed the ibis. Everyone was watching. I didn't have the exposure correct on those pictures. I was focusing on the baby moorhen which was swimming in the shadows but when I heard the screaming from the bird I looked over and snapped a couple of pictures really quickly.  The manatee hospital had two newly injured manatees that had arrived. Both were injured from boat strikes. They were in the back pool being fed.

Skywatch Friday - Zoo Atlanta

New pine cones growing in the summer? No, it's not Tampa. I stopped by Zoo Atlanta for a quick visit while I was visiting my in-laws recently. Hey, anything to get out of the in-law house for an hour, right? The pine cones were bright green and looked pretty against the blue sky. They were in the asian section next to the panda house. The pandas were all sleeping while I was there so that was not fun. Below are some of the animals at the zoo. Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa does not have pandas, gorillas or lions so I was trying to get some pictures of those.

For more skyscape photography from around the world, visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/.

Baby birds at the zoo

Great egret bringing a stick to the nest.


Baby blue heron.

Two baby blue herons with mom.

Another nest with mom feeding 3 baby blues.

Two baby blue heron siblings.

Lowry Park zoo is now full of wild baby birds in the trees around the alligator exhibit. The great egrets are high up in the trees so it's hard to see the babies, although you can hear them crying for food. The palm trees around the edge of the alligator exhibit are full of blue heron nests. The fuzzy white birds are so cute at this age. They are all trying to walk around and flap their wings.
I saw some snowy egrets building nests as well as one spoonbill so I'm going to try and get back there in a couple of weeks.

Fun zoo animals

Another trip to Lowry Park zoo last week provided a lot of fun. Even with the heat, there was a lot going on in the morning. The zoo got crowded fast. I never understood why the locals wait until it's 90 degrees outside to visit the zoo. The best time to go is in the winter. Hardy anyone there and with the cool weather the animals are out playing most of the day. Now, all of the animals are asleep in the shade in the back of the exhibit by noon. I left around 11:30am and people were pouring in. I wanted to yell, they're all asleep already. Now is the time though to catch the elephants playing in the water. One was really going for a deep dive. The 2 baby zebras were out running around. Baby Jaya (rhino) will be one in July. She was giving mom kisses. It was a productive morning but once the serious heat set in I headed for home.

New babies at the zoo

Baby orangutan playing.

Momma duck with her new babies.



New baby white rhino in the African section of the zoo being very curious. Yum!


New baby zebra nursing.

Baby siamang gibbon learning to swing.

There are lots of babies at the Lowry Park zoo right now. While I was there recently, they were all running around playing since it was still a little cool out in the morning. Soon it will be so hot that all of the animals will be sleeping most of the day. There were already several baby duck groups. The pond in the elephant exhibit had a duck with several babies. I guess they don't mind swimming with the elephants. The above picture of the ducks were taken in one of the primate ponds. Soon the zoo will be full of baby ducks. The wild birds were starting to nest in the area around the alligator exhibit. Little blue herons were sitting on nests. There were already baby great egrets high up in the trees. Caution note - keep an eye out in the trees on the boardwalk there. You could get pooped on by the wild birds who live up in those trees.

Update on shoebill stork baby

The baby stork has gotten big.

One of the parents.

The african shoebill stork that was born on Christmas day at Lowry Park zoo is now almost 4 months old. It now looks almost like an adult. His (or her) feathers are darker than the parent's and the beak looks clean compared to the adult's marked up beak. It stood up for a few minutes while I was there and then sat back down again. This is 2nd baby shoebill to be born in captivity and the first in the US. It looks like it's going to be a great stork. Hopefully the parents can do this again next year. While I was leaving the zoo a flock of white pelicans were flying high up in the sky. I was able to snap the below picture as the birds were probably flying up north (maybe Canada) for the summer.

Atlanta Part 3 - Zoo's otters

On a recent trip to Atlanta, I stopped by the zoo. I happened to walk by the river otter exhibit when the otters woke up and started to play. Usually you pass by these guys and they are sleeping in a bundle. They were so cute. They had a big crowd watching and the kids were going crazy. Above are some of my favorite pictures.

Circle of Life - baby zebra

A baby zebra was born on St. Patrick's day at Lowry Park zoo. Above is a video from the zoo of the baby zebra taking it's first steps and below is the official press release from the zoo with a great picture. Hopefully in the next couple of weekends I will be able to get there to get some pictures.

http://www.lowryparkzoo.com/_page_content/media_information/documents/TLPZ%20Grevy%20zebra%20birth.pdf

A duck is a duck.

American wigeon. He has a pretty blue bill that is outlined in black.

Your basic mallard. They really are pretty with their yellow beak, bright green head and orange feet.

This female mallard is very friendly, walking around on the sidewalk getting very close to people.

Beautiful purple feathers are outlined in white. These are present in both the male and female mallards.

Black bellied whistling ducks have light pink beaks and bright pink feet. It's pretty in contrast to the black and brown body.

Male ruddy duck. He also has a pretty blue bill.

Time for a nap.

I used to think all ducks looked alike. They all quacked and paddled around on top of the water. In the past year I have been learning about all of the different ducks and their distinguishing features. I noticed on a recent trip to the zoo how many different ducks were at the zoo and how different they all looked. They all had different beautiful features. An important note - not all ducks quack, there are some ducks that whistle when they are flying.

Pelicans being fed.

The Lowry Park Zoo has a handful of beautiful white pelicans that live in the big aviary in the African section of the zoo. They fly back and forth across the pond several times a day and stay together in a flock just like they do in the wild. This past weekend I happen to be there when they were being fed. They were so graceful the way they lined up and then caught the fish. There were a few cormorants braving the crowd looking for some crumbs.