San Diego Zoo - Saturday, Oct 22, 2011

Lions . . . and tigers . . . and bears . . . well, okay not bears, but I did see a bearcat. Otherwise known as a binturong. And, not really a bear or a cat - but they are cool looking, even when they're asleep.

The lions were both sleeping as well. Here's Etosha, taking a late-afternoon nap. Every now and then she would open one eye just a bit. Check the link at the end of this post to see a picture of the large male lion M'bari, or at least the little bit of him that I could see.

Keeping with the napping theme, here's Danai, one of the adult female Malayan Tigers. I wound up staying almost all day, and found her on my way up Tiger River at about 5:30pm. It was actually a lot darker there than it looks in this shot.

One guy who was definitely not napping was Guapo the male Jaguar. He was pacing back and forth like an expectant father - which from what I've heard is exactly what he is. His girlfriend Nindiri is due to give birth any day now. There are a few more pictures of Guapo at the link below. He's a bit blurry looking through the dirty glass, but you get the idea.

Late in the afternoon is a great time to see the hippos. When I got to the Zoo early in the morning, mom Funani and son Adhama were just hanging out by the glass, not moving, and I didn't even try to get past the crowds to get close. By the end of the day they were out cruising around their pool.

I caught these two Grevy's Zebras when they stuck their heads up from the feed trough.

At one point I stumbled on to a duck feeding frenzy.

The light was really nice all day. There was a bit of fog in the air which diffused the sunlight nicely. All of the shots above were taken in the late afternoon. The next few were taken earlier in the day, starting with this Flamingo shortly after I arrived.

I spent the first 4 hours or so of the day just hanging out with the Malayan Tiger cubs and their mother. As usual, the cubs alternated between lounging around . . . 

 . . . chasing each other around . . .

. . . and sometimes really annoying their mother.

I thought last weekend was going to be the last time I would get to see Miri the Fishing Cat. It turns out she's now leaving for her new home this coming week, and she was out all day on Saturday. I guess "out" is a relative term with fishing cats - they don't seem to like just sitting around out in the open. They usually seem to be hiding someplace where they can watch but not be easily seen. When they are out in the open they're generally moving pretty quickly.

I must have spent over an hour at her little habitat on Saturday, but it was worth it. She really is a photogenic cat - when you can see her.

Here's one last shot, and appropriately one of the last shots I got before leaving for the day. The Crested Screamers that live at the big Flamingo pool near the Zoo entrance were chasing other birds away from their nests.

Click here to see more images from the San Diego Zoo on Saturday, October 22, 2011.
     

Some San Diego Zoo Images From This Weekend

It seems like I spent most of this weekend at the San Diego Zoo, and most of that at the Malayan Tigers. I'm not quite sure why, but I find it quite relaxing wandering around the Zoo taking pictures. I'll often spend an hour or two in one place, especially with the tigers, waiting for something good to happen. I rarely try to cover the whole Zoo, unless I'm showing an out-of-town guest around, but instead concentrate on just a few animals.


Christopher and Conner were sitting way up in the back of the habitat on Saturday morning, just watching the people walk by. Many of them didn't even notice the little beasties were there at first.

The little guys wrestled around with each other a bit, played with Mom for a bit, and finally came towards the front when the keeper showed up with some food for them. Here's Christopher watching intently.

Bullet the Fishing Cat was out and wandering around looking for bits of food the keeper had placed around his habitat.

The Malayan Tapir was in her usual morning spot. She doesn't move a whole lot during the day (since tapirs are nocturnal). Evenings in the summer are best time to see her up and about.

I got there a little earlier on Sunday morning than I did on Saturday. It was still a little overcast, which meant some great light on the Flamingos.

Christopher, Conner and their mom, Mek, were all three napping in the little alcove next to the pond at the uppermost viewing area. It's pretty dark in there, but I managed to get a few shots. I had to get down on the ground to get eye level with them. He was almost too close for my lens to focus.

Mom was sitting furthest back in the cave, watching - both the cubs and the people. I certainly don't know this cat all that well, but I have a feeling that look on her face is the "I wonder just how many of these people I can eat in one sitting?" look. 

After a while they wandered up the hill, and then all 3 started chasing each other around. More accurately, I think it was Mek chasing the cubs around.

When the keeper showed up with some beef heart they changed their attention from each other to the tasty snacks. Here's a shot of Conner this time.

On my way out I stopped to see if the Johnston's Crocodiles were in a good spot. I watched the darker one for quite a while, and then the lighter one crawled over and lined up behind him. The glass is really dirty, and there's a lot of glare and reflection on it, but these guys are fun to watch regardless.

Here's one last shot, a young Mandrill.

Click here to see more images from Saturday and Sunday, October 15 & 16, 2011, at the San Diego Zoo, including a couple close up shots of Mek that you would not ordinarily see, and a lot more of the 3 tigers wrestling around together.
      

Sunday Morning Walk Around The San Diego Zoo

I spent several hours wandering around the Zoo today, most of it either at the Tigers or the Polar Bears and the Arctic Fox. The Malayan Tiger cubs were playing up in the tree at one point, while Mek, their mother, sat up on the hill and watched. 

Once Rochelle got there with some fresh meat they focused their attention to where we were standing.

On my way up to see the polar bears I stopped by the large bird pool at the bottom of the hill. This Lesser Flamingo was mixed in with a group of Caribbean Flamingos. It's pretty amazing the way they can turn their heads almost completely around and bury their beaks in their feathers, all while standing on one leg. 

   

These two are White-Breasted Cormorants - I don't know why they're called that, I don't see any white.

The Egrets are local birds, they pop in and out of the Zoo whenever they want.

On my way up the hill I stopped for a bit to watch the Grevy's Zebras.

Tucked away in a corner out behind the Polar Bear is a small enclosure with a couple of Arctic Foxes. I hardly ever get a good look at them - they're usually either up against the back fence watching the Polar Bears, or hiding back in a cave. Today they were both out and even moving around some. This one looks to missing part of an ear.

Their fur changes color to adapt to the season or where they are, from white to grayish-brown. There's one of each color out right now.

The Polar Bears at the Zoo are one of the toughest animals to get a good photo of. They're behind a very thick piece of glass, which is generally quite dirty, and has lots of reflections on it.

The bear was sitting up on a rock ledge not doing much, but I was in no hurry so I hung out for a while and just watched. After a bit a keeper showed up and began feeding fruits and vegetables to the bear. I saw carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, and even grapes. I've been told that they also feed them raw meat, but do that in the back off exhibit.

It looks like they get along pretty well.

On my way out of the Zoo I went back up Tiger River so that I could get one last look at both Paka and Miri. Paka, the male Malayan Tiger, and the father of the 2 cubs here, is moving to Fresno in a few days. They've arranged a new girlfriend for him, and hopefully he'll father a few more cubs. When I first got back to the habitat he was up on the hill watching from behind a rock.

Every now and then he would stick his head up for a better view.

Miri, the female Fishing Cat, is on her way to another zoo in a few days as well. The plan is to breed her with another cat since Bullet didn't seem all that interested in her. She was sitting in her favorite little cave watching the people walk by. Someone conveniently dropped something loud, and she perked up for this shot.

Last stop on the way out was the big Flamingo pool right by the entrance.

The Flamingos must have gotten too close to something, because the Crested Screamers that share the habitat with them were just going nuts. They were working together trying to herd a group of Flamingos out of the way.

Click here to see more images from Sunday, October 9, 2011 at the San Diego Zoo.

    

A Little Road Trip Across The Desert

I attended a conference for work in Las Vegas earlier this week, and decided to drive out there from San Diego rather than fly. Two of us from the office drove out on Wednesday morning, just in time to catch most of the rain heading up the Cajon Pass. There was pretty much no visibility until we got out past Victorville. At Barstow we turned off from I-15 (the route that goes straight to Las Vegas) and headed east on I-40 until we got to Kelbaker Road. From there we drove north through the Mojave Preserve, first to the restored train station at Kelso, then northeast across the Preserve until we connected back up with I-15 just west of the Nevada border. Not long after we got off the freeway we found a little dirt road that went up to a radio tower, and got this view looking out towards the southwest.

They've restored the train station in Kelso, but have not quite gotten around to the old Post Office yet. The roadway could use a bit of work too.

The views from the Kelso-Cima-Nipton road were pretty nice, especially with the storm clouds.

On our way back from Las Vegas on Friday we travelled south on US 95, then west on Old Route 66 for a while, then south to Twentynine Palms. We stopped for dinner in Palm Springs and then headed over the mountains to San Diego.

At Amboy we stopped to check out Roy's, one of the iconic spots along old Route 66. We got there just as a group of German tourists on Harleys were lining up to take a picture in front of the famous sign.

Click here to see a few more shots from our quick trip out to Las Vegas, including one of John in the Kelso jail.
     

A Few Tiger Pictures From Saturday

The Malayan tiger cubs at the San Diego Zoo spent most of the morning Saturday playing around in the water. Every now and then they would chase around the rest of their habitat. 

Mom alternated between ignoring them, hanging out near them at the pool, and occasionally wandering around on her own. She can go from being a peaceful looking, almost friendly cat to looking like a total psycho in no time at all.

Here's little Conner biting his brother Christopher on the back.

This last shot is pretty blurry, and is actually only a small portion of the original frame. All three cats were up at the very top of the habitat, way in the corner. The size of the paws and the extended claws on Conner reminded me of the Puss-N-Boots character from Shrek.

Click here to see more images of the Malayan tigers from Saturday, October 1, 2011 at the San Diego Zoo.