Photography . . . Travel . . .

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Calli the Cat

As we were heading out to the Safari Park this afternoon I spotted Calli sitting by the window. When I pulled out the big 300mm lens she gave me this really suspicious look.




Click here for a gallery of various pictures of Calli and her brother Aldo that I've taken over the last few years.
   

San Diego Zoo's Safari Park - A Short Afternoon Walk

Heather and I decided to spend a few hours walking around the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park in Escondido this afternoon. It was a pretty warm day, probably in the low 80's, but very nice in the shade.


We started out by wandering up into the garden areas that are on the way to Condor Ridge. I found this bird of paradise on our way up the hill.




One of my favorites at the Safari Park is the burrowing owl that lives up at Condo Ridge. I'm always amazed at how he can swivel his neck.




The prairie dogs are pretty cool too. It looks like they just got some new boxes to play with.




The big male lion stuck his head up for just a few seconds, and then went back to sleep. There were also 2 female lions nearby, they were both out cold. Well, it was mid-afternoon, and it was warm. We also saw the 2 15-month old Sumatran tigers, but they were both laying on their sides sound asleep. There is a photo of them in the gallery linked below. 




I think I carried the camera more than I shot it, but here are couple more shots to finish this up. No shots of the lemurs this time, the whole lagoon area was under repair, and all the water was drained.






Click here to see a few more images from our walk around the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park (formerly known as the Wild Animal Park) on Sunday, January 29, 2012.
    

An Evening View of the San Diego Skyline from Coronado

Last Thursday night I met up with a couple of friends from San Diego DSLR for a bit of night-time photography along the water at the Ferry Landing in Coronado. You get a pretty nice view of the downtown San Diego skyline from there. The added benefit is a mixed-seafood grill plate at Il Fornaio afterward. By the time I managed to get down there from the office I pretty much missed the "blue hour" light, but it was still a really nice night to hang out with some friends and shoot some pictures. Here are a few images.








This last shot will probably only be appreciated by the photographers looking at it. Here's a picture of Harold's camera, displaying a just-taken picture of my camera and Bob's camera, with the downtown skyline in the background.




Click here to see a few more images from Thursday evening, January 26, at the Ferry Landing in Coronado, California.
     

Saturday, January 28, 2012

A Quick Morning Walk Around the San Diego Zoo

The new female fishing cat, Dow, was out when I got to the San Diego Zoo this morning. She's a beautiful cat, but was sitting way up in the back behind some brush. These are heavily cropped in order to see her face.




In talking with her keeper, it sounds like Dow is still getting used to her new home.




The Malayan tiger cubs and their mother were all three sleeping in their little cave when I first got there. After a while Mek finally got up, and then a little later one of the cubs did as well. Here's Mek, something has caught her attention.




It seems like I wound up with a bunch of close-ups this time.




Here's Christopher, one of the cubs. It was pretty dark in the cave, and there was also a fair amount of glare on the glass.




Here's his brother Conner.




After a while the cubs headed out into the open to wait for some snacks.




I ran into a friend while I was watching the cubs, she commented that "they're finally growing into their paws". I would say she was right.






On the way out I made a brief stop to see Camo, the new male tapir. I caught a quick glimpse of him before he disappeared.






Click here to see a few more pictures from my few hours at the San Diego Zoo this morning.
      

Monday, January 23, 2012

San Diego Zoo - January 22, 2012

It was a little cool and overcast on Sunday morning, nice weather for a walk around the San Diego Zoo.


I spent a fair amount of time at the Malayan Tigers (see below for even more shots of the two cubs together). Here's Christopher, followed by his brother Conner.






The Night Herons are some of my favorite birds. They're actually not part of the Zoo's collection, but rather are local birds that just stop in for the food.




I stopped in to see another of my favorites, the Rock Hyrax. Apparently their closest living relative is the elephant.






The North Chinese Leopard was out.




Later in the day the sun came out for bit, which made for some great light on the plants at times.






I tried to get a decent shot of the Zebras, but they weren't cooperating at all, and I wasn't about to leave with nothing. 




Ubon, the new male Malayan Tiger, was out later in the afternoon. It was pretty dark there, and he wasn't holding still.




Since this is the start of the Year of the Dragon it only seems right to end up here with a dragon of sorts, a Komodo Dragon.




Click here to see more images from the San Diego Zoo on Sunday, January 22, 2012.
     

Brothers - Christopher & Connor - Malayan Tiger Cubs at the San Diego Zoo

I spent a few hours on Sunday morning hanging out with Christopher and Connor, the almost 10-month old Malayan Tiger cubs at the San Diego Zoo. Here's a series of shots of the two of them together, all of them closely cropped. When I first got there on Sunday they were playing in the pond, so their fur is still a little wet. By the way, that's Christopher on the left, and Connor on the right.












I'll put up another post with some of my other shots from Sunday, with a link the full gallery.
   

Anza Borrego - Fish Creek & Sandstone Canyon - Saturday 21 Jan 2012

A few of us got together on Saturday for a day of hiking and exploring in the Fish Creek area of Anza Borrego Desert State Park, in eastern San Diego County.

It was raining lightly when we left San Diego, but stopped by the time we got past the mountains and to the edge of the desert. We spotted a great rainbow as we drove through the San Felipe Valley.


There were some nice fluffy clouds in the sky as we started up Fish Creek.


Our first stop was the Wind Caves hiking trail. There are great views of the entire Fish Creek area from up on the trail.


It's been really dry out there this year, but there are signs that some of the plants may be blooming soon. This ocotillo was just starting to get a few leaves.


We worked our way up to one of the higher rocks overlooking the wash, and Heather and I found a spot to take a little break.


After lunch we went for another hike, this time in Sandstone Canyon. I don't have many pictures from that walk, as the wind was mostly howling through the canyon, sandblasting us and our gear.



Here are a few shots from the drive back out of Sandstone Canyon. The canyon is a dead end, you find a wide spot to turn around, and drive back out the way you came in. 





All in all it was another great day in the desert, even with the very high winds at times.

Click here to see a few more images from Fish Creek and Sandstone Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, on January 21, 2012.
     

Year of the Dragon - Happy Lunar New Year!

While I was out with my camera on Sunday I was specifically looking for something to use for a Lunar New Year post for the Year of the Dragon. I have to say that it was a whole lot easier two years ago, when it was the year of the Tiger. I don't know if it's just a San Diego thing or what, but there just aren't all that many dragons around.


I did come across a Komodo Dragon at the San Diego Zoo on Sunday. He wasn't moving much, and unlike other times I've seen him, really not looking all that dragon-like. Except maybe for his claws.




Happy New Year everyone!

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.