Malayan Tigers and Red Pandas - San Diego Zoo, Sunday April 15, 2012

I'm finally getting around to posting a few shots from last Sunday morning at the San Diego Zoo, before I go out and shoot some new stuff this weekend. Here's Christopher, one of the two now 1-year old Malayan Tiger cubs. Okay, maybe they're not really cubs any more. I'll have to ask at what point they stop calling them that.

I had a chance to get a close up look at Ubon, the big male Malayan Tiger, in the off-exhibit area. He's a pretty big cat, at about 260 lbs. You can't see much of him here though, because all I had with me was my 300mm lens, and from about 10' away this is all I could get. There was a fair amount of glare on the glass too.

I spent some time with the Red Pandas as well. They're not actually related to the Giant Pandas, but they are fun to watch.

Click here to see a few more images from Sunday, April 15, 2012 at the San Diego Zoo.
     

Hummingbirds, Frogs & Turtles - San Diego Botanic Garden - April 14, 2012

We held the April group shoot for the San Diego DSLR Photography Group at the San Diego Botanical Garden in Encinitas this morning. It was mostly cold and windy, and rained for part of the time we were there. That was not going to stop us from having a good time though. Since it was so windy I didn't bother trying to get close-up flower pictures, and instead headed straight for the big pond with the lily pads, frogs and turtles. That turned out to be a good decision.

The water lilies (I think that's what they are) are beautiful this time of year. When you looked closely, every now and then you could spot a frog or turtle popping its head up between the leaves.

The turtles have a distinctive red stripe on the sides of their heads.

At least the cactus was fairly stable in the wind.

The chia-mariachi players are great.

There is a large stand of Pride of Madiera plants not too far from the entrance. At one point the sun peaked out from behind the clouds for bit and provided a bit of side-lighting. 

Then, just as it started to rain again a hummingbird showed up. You can see the rain drops in last 3 shots.

Click here to see a few more images from the San Diego DSLR Photography Group's April group shoot at the San Diego Botanical Garden in Encinitas, California.
     

Easter Sunday Sunset in San Diego

Heather and I went to the Fish Market Restaurant in San Diego for an early dinner tonight, and then for a walk along the waterfront right at sunset. The Fish Market is located on Harbor Drive, right alongside the area where the fishing boats moor. The San Diego-based fishing fleet is certainly not as big as it was when I first came to town in 1980, but there are still a few boats out there. The sun was still up in the sky a bit over Point Loma.

This next one is a little different - that's the reflection of the setting sun on one of the glass buildings downtown.

One last shot, looking out towards the fishing fleet and Point Loma, after the sun has set for the evening.

It was a great evening for a walk along the Bay.
     

Easter Flower

I found this one in our backyard this morning - the colors just seemed appropriate for Easter.

Happy Easter, and Happy Passover too.

    

A Much Bigger Cat - Malayan Tiger at the San Diego Zoo

I was reading someplace not too long ago about how tigers hunt. Basically it said they're patient animals, they wait, and something good generally shows up. It's pretty much the same thing with getting pictures of them I think. When I got to the Tiger River area this morning Christopher, one of the two young Malayan tigers, was sleeping on the edge of the 15' high cliff over the upper pond area. 

He wasn't moving much, so I just backed myself up against a post and waited. Over the course of the next half hour or so lots of people would come by, glance at him for a moment (if they even noticed him), mumble something about nothing happening, and walk on. A few would stay longer, and every now and then Christopher would pop his head up for a look around. I was in no hurry, so I just waited, figuring something good was bound to happen.

Christopher and his brother Connor just had their first birthday this past Monday, April 2nd.


Click here to see a few more images from today at the San Diego Zoo.
     

A Cat With Webbed Feet - Fishing Cat at the San Diego Zoo

Bullet, the San Diego Zoo's male fishing cat, was sitting out in the sun this morning cleaning his paws when I got to his enclosure. It's the first time I've seen him sitting this close to the front for any length of time. He was almost too close for my lens.

Being that close, and in the bright sunlight, I was able to get a shot of his paws, and in this one you can kind of see the webbing.

On my way back by a little later Bullet was now hanging out in his more usual spot on ledge way up in the back. He gets a pretty good view of things from up there.

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

Aldo and Calli

Here are a couple of recent pictures of the beasties. In this first one, Aldo was sitting with Heather on the couch the other night. It was pretty dark, but he managed to hold still long enough for me to get this shot. 

The 2 of them were sitting in the morning sun recently, sharing a single cat-bed by an open window.

Calli is generally a pretty helpful cat, especially when we bring boxes home. She always makes sure we've emptied them completely.

Sometimes she does give me a really suspicious look though.

Click here to see more images of Aldo and Calli.