Photography . . . Travel . . .

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Year of the Horse - Happy Chinese New Year !

To all my friends who celebrate the start of the New Year on Saturday, Happy New Year.  Best wishes for the Year of the Horse.


Gung Hay Fat Choy.

Okay, so it's not a real horse. You can see more of these metal sculptures from around Borrego Springs, California here, here and here.
 

San Diego Zoo - January 2014

When I've not been at work this month I've spent a fair amount of time at the San Diego Zoo, here are few of my favorite images.







Now that the overgrown vegetation has been cleared from behind the tiger enclosure the keepers can get back there, and recently they've started feeding snacks to the tiger through the fence. It's made for some amusing scenes, as even though Connor seems to be very motivated by food, he still likes to hide and stalk the keeper for a bit before charging up to the fence.





It was fairly warm for a few days earlier this month, and Connor took the opportunity to hang out in the pool.



Click here to see a few more images from January 2014 at the San Diego Zoo. Mostly it's shots of Connor, with a few of the Fishing Cat and a couple of other things thrown in.     

I Don't Know What Kind of Bird This Is, But It Sure Is Cool Looking

I found this one in the Parker Aviary at the San Diego Zoo recently.

   

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Being Watched

 

I spent most of the time between January 1 and 4, 2014 at the San Diego Zoo, and much of that was spent watching Connor, the Malayan Tiger. Occasionally I caught him watching me too.

Click here to see more images the San Diego Zoo, January 1-4, 2014.
   

Sunday, January 12, 2014

A Few San Diego Zoo Pictures from Dec 21, 2103

Here are a few more pictures from last month at the San Diego Zoo. December is one of the best months to visit the Zoo.

We'll start out with 2 big cats you don't often see up and about, the Black Jaguar and the North Chinese Leopard.



I think this shot of the Arctic Fox is probably my favorite from the day.


I haven't stopped in to see the Meerkats in a while, they're always fun to watch.


Until they roll over onto their back you don't realize just how white the fur is on the underside of a Jaguar.


She looks so peaceful and friendly in that picture, it's hard to believe she is the same cat that's in the pictures at this earlier blog post.

Check out the claws on this bear.


Here's a young male Mandrill.


Late in the afternoon the Gharials were hanging out in their heated cave.


Click here to see a few more images from Saturday, December 21, 2013 at the San Diego Zoo. 
   

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Wandering in the Desert, With Prehistoric Animals - Anza Borrego

It's been a while since we've been out to Anza Borrego Desert State Park or the town of Borrego Springs. Heather and I met up with some friends on Sunday for a bit of exploring and sightseeing in the desert. It's about a 2 hour drive over the mountains from San Diego, and that includes time to stop in Santa Ysabel and pick up a freshly baked apple pie to go with our picnic lunch.

We started off by checking out some of the steel sculptures of prehistoric animals that once inhabited the area. These works of art were commissioned by the late Dennis Avery and are found on various parcels of land he owned on the outskirts of Borrego Springs. Access to the sites, known as Galleta Meadows, is open to all at no charge.

Here's one of my favorites, mom and baby Giant Sloth. These are made from unpainted sheet steel, designed to rust like this.


Here's a close-up of mom's fur and baby's claws.


If you look closely in the background behind mom's rear legs in the first picture you can see another member of the family off in the distance.


Since I spend a lot of time taking pictures of big cats I had to get a shot of these saber tooth cats.


When these sculptures first appeared a few years ago, the story was that they were going to be depictions of the various animals that inhabited the area in prehistoric times. After a while the artist must have run out of actual creatures and turned more towards creatures inspired by fantasy, such as the sea monster. This thing is over 300 feet long, and actually straddles Borrego Springs Road.


We thought that the dancing velociraptor was pretty cool. The bright sun made for great shadows.


After spending a few hours checking out the sculptures we headed out into Anza Borrego Desert State Park, the largest State Park in California. There are over 500 miles of dirt roads in the Park, which covers 916 square miles.

We didn't drive very far this time, just over to a scenic lunch spot I knew of on Buttes Pass Road. Here's Mark and Mitch in my rear view mirror as we head east through San Felipe Wash.


I didn't get a lot of photos of the desert landscape this time, so I'll end with just this, our little group celebrating a long-overdue fun day of wandering in the desert.


Click here to see a few more pictures from Sunday, January 5, 2014 in Anza Borrego. You can also click on the Anza Borrego tag at the end of this post see other blog postings from previous trips.
     

About Me

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San Diego, California, United States
About me . . . When I'm not working I like to be out exploring and photographing. I do this blog just for fun, and to be able to share these images with friends. I hope you enjoy viewing these images as much as I enjoyed creating them.

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All of the content and images on this site (c) Frank B. Baiamonte. If you would like to use any of these images please contact me via email at frank@frankbaiamonte.com to discuss terms of usage. Note that images from the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park are not available for commercial usage. You can also see more on my Instagram page @frankbaiamonte.

Header image: Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, Cibola, Arizona. End image: Downtown San Diego, California skyline from Coronado Island. Profile picture: Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho, by Heather Baiamonte.