Ring-Tailed Lemurs and Black-Crowned Night Herons

My favorite bird at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park (formerly known as the Wild Animal Park) is not even really a part of their collection - the black-crowned night herons are a local bird species that takes advantage of the free food and a pleasant place to hang out. 

The shoe-bill storks are a strange looking bird. It's always fun to watch the reactions of first-time visitors to the Park when they first spot this thing.

There were quite a few good looking birds out there on Saturday afternoon.

Several of the larger exhibits were closed, and the tigers (one of the main reasons I stopped there in the first place) were not out. It was mid-day, so I wasn't really expecting the ring-tailed lemurs to be very active (I usually see them active late in the day), but it turns out they were the highlight of the day. Zoonooz Magazine ran an article on these 2 lemurs a few months ago, but I just can't remember their names. I do recall that they are sisters though. If I had to pick a favorite furry animal at the Park it would have to be the lemurs (or maybe the meerkats - they're certainly my favorites at the San Diego Zoo).

In that last shot she looks to be deep in thought, but in reality she's deep into a snack that she's holding in both hands and chomping on.

The meerkats were not all that active, and it was dark and cloudy when I happened by their little area, but I did manage to get one good shot.

Click here to see more images from Saturday afternoon at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park just outside of Escondido, CA.