Showing posts with label Zoos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zoos. Show all posts

Monday, March 29, 2010

Shiny Otters & Little Butterfly-Murdering Hands


We weathered the spring rains to spend some much needed time at the zoo on Sunday. We hit the indoor places: the Butterfly Garden, the River Otter exhibit, Amphibiville, and the ever smelly Penguinarium.



This is the first time I really noticed Brooke getting into the animals, which made it a very fun trip. She loved running around and looking at everything, and of course making a fishy pucker-mouth when she saw the fish swimming. She got a little overzealous a few times, once grabbing a very beautiful and expensive-looking butterfly (it had to be "put down" I think) and later trying to swim in the fountain. But it was all in the name of exploration and learning.


"What do you mean I can't swim in there, Daddy?"
Once again the otters foiled every attempt on my part to get a good picture of them. They are so fast, and shiny and unpredictable that it's downright impossible to get a focus lock on them as they play and frolic in the water. How incredibly rude.

But they are always entertaining, and even more so this time: we walked in on a sort of domestic disturbance among the mated pair. It seems the lady of the house likes to nap in the daytime, as most otters do. But the gentleman was very frisky and wanted to play. He kept trying to awaken his good lady as she slept inside her hollow log, and eventually she became angered and snarled at him. Now, this male, being typical of all males in his aversion to taking hints, kept at it and kept getting pwned by his good lady as we watched in extreme amusement.

A chilly reception

"Get out, and STAY out!"

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

South Of The Border

The Wild Family trekked south of the border (Ohio) Saturday to visit the Toledo Zoo. It's been a while since we've been there. In fact, it was pre-Brookie.



Lots of fun stuff there, but it's not nearly as good as it is in the summer, what with all the large African land mammals shivering in their indoor houses. We'll go back this summer when the Hippoquarium is back in action. But I brought the 5D II and a killer lens, so you just know I am going to show you some of my favorite pics...









We also stopped at Kilnger's favorite place, Tony Packo's for dinner afterwards.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Shirtsleeves, Unmolested

I had the day off yesterday and decided to go to the Zoo for a little relaxed photography. It was pretty cold but the Detroit Zoo has all manner of cool indoor exhibits so I headed for my favorites: the butterfly house, the river otters, the reptile house, and of course the polar bear tunnel.

The butterfly house is a great place to go on a cold day because it's like a big greenhouse. I got some pictures of the usual suspects:



but one cool surprise was a hummingbird, something I rarely see in there. I did get some pretty clear pic of the little guy, but the blurry one from yesterday is my fave.

On to the land of otters, and if you think photographing hummingbirds and children is hard, you need to try to capture these greasy little writhing tubes of energy as they play in the water. It's darned near impossible to get a good shot, and my keeper/throwaway ratio is like 2% in this place. Here's my favorite:

Next up was the reptile house. Now THESE things are easy to photograph! The hardest part is finding them in their enclosures. This guy seemed especially suspicious of me:

Lastly, I can't go to the zoo without seeing how the polar bears are getting on. I was lucky that two of the bears were playing in the water this time, but the number of people crowding the tunnel made for some difficult shooting. I love this picture of one of the large male bears sitting up on top of the tunnel, half out of the water:

While I did really miss the kids, it is nice to go to the zoo alone every now and then, just to be able to stop and take pictures without the constant tugging on the shirtsleeves to keep moving.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Communing With Our Locked Up Friends

We took advantage of another sunny Saturday to hang with our furry, scaly, and feathery peeps at the Detroit Zoo. Although the fountains aren't wet and the trains aren't railed yet, we found plenty of wildlife willing to rap with us...check them out...












Monday, March 30, 2009

Monday, March 23, 2009

The Wild Zoo


Brooke went to the zoo for the first time on Sunday! Of course, she decided to bring us all along too.

I have a couple pictures of her at the zoo, but she's in her carrier and you can't really tell she's at the zoo! :)

So here's a yellow bird instead...