A Little Time at the Zoo

The temperature was in the mid-60's today and the sun was shining, so I decided that it would be a good day to head over to the zoo.  I figured with a relatively cool day, the animals would be a little more active.

 Well, these animals can't get any more active than they already are, since they are bronze.  But I figure the Rackham Fountain is a good place to start.

 Another angle of the fountain.  I think this is a pretty cool fountain.

 I forget what these horses are called but they are wild horses.

 A condor.  I kind of like the way he was looking back at me.

 I believe this is a blue flag iris.  The zoo is kind of nice in the spring because they have a few wild flowers around the place.

 I think this was a rattlesnake of some sort.

 Reminds me of something you'd see in Thailand or something like that.  It is a sort of statue in the reptile building.

 Mr. Lizard!  Although I think this one is natural and not from smoking pot.

 I have no idea what kind of flower this is.

 Probably my second favorite exhibit in the zoo is the polar bear exhibit.    For a few brief seconds I can pretend I'm a National Geographic photographer on assignment in the Arctic.

 The polar bear was pretty active today.  There was a another one swimming around but I wasn't really in a position to get a picture of that one.

 Another shot of him.

 My favorite is the wolverine pen.  He was very active today.  He would grab whatever he's carrying in this picture, climb the tree, throw that down and climb back down.  It was pretty neat.

 Wolverines are pretty adapt climbers.  It didn't take him long to get up the tree.

 A little bit of lunch.

 One of two bald eagles in the Zoo.  Neither of them can fly and I think this is the younger of the two.  Apparently, he ran into a high power line in Alaska.  They were able to save him but now he can't fly.

 A pair of anteaters.

 A bird that I'm not sure about.

 Some sort of monkey, he was just relaxing on the lgos.

 I didn't notice the younger chimp until I looked at the picture when I got home.  It was kind of cool.

 I could just stay home and look at a sleeping cat.

 A pair of snow monkeys.

 The Siberian Tiger.  He was just sitting in the shade.

 Still looks pretty impressive though.

And I leave you with a shot of the tiger looking pretty regal.

A Nice Day for the Zoo

It actually hit the 50's today, so I decided to hit M-14 to I-275 to I-696 to hit the Zoo.  Apparently a few other people had the same idea because it was a bit crazy when I got there.

 I saw the river otter was active but of course that ended as I got to the window.  Still, I don't think this is that bad of a shot.

 One of the condors.

 The camel always looks happy.

 One of the peacocks.  It was nice to see these guys wandering around.

 Then there is favorite stop, the wolverine pen.

 It's not often that you see a wolverine in a tree.

 I think he was actually sniffing things out.

 I guess a tree is a good vantage point for that.

 A nice closeup of the wolverine.

 One more shot of the wolverine.  They weren't out when I returned.

 A shot of the eagle.

 One of the prairie dogs.

 A kangaroo.

 A seagull flying above.

 Another type of bird flying.

 The bear was fairly active too.

 A helicopter.

 The lioness licking herself.

 I even got to see the tiger out and about.

 I will have to admit tigers are pretty cool.  This particular tiger is a Siberian tiger, so he (or she) is larger than other types of tigers.

 I would hate to be on the business end of this guy.

 The only glimpse I got of the polar bear.

And a shot of alpaca.

All in all, it was a pretty nice day to go to the zoo but there were far too many people there.  I guess that is one of the ways I prefer the slighly colder winter days.

Return to the Detroit Zoo

It has been a while since I have been to the Zoo.  I've been meaning to go there for a while and we finally had a warm enough day to head over there.  It was in the high 30's/low 40's today so I headed over to Royal Oak.

 So we start with the gazelle statue because this is pretty much the start of the zoo.

 Then we head over to the butterfly house with one of its monkey sentries.

 The Butterfly House was designed by Albert Kahn.  I'm not sure when it was built but it is a beautiful building.  It sort of reminds me of the Aquarium on Belle Isle.

 Some of the beautiful details on the building itself.

 I'm not sure how many different kinds of butterflies they have but I know there are a few.  This is one of them.

 And this is another.  I really liked this shot.

 The butterfly above from a different angle.

 Attached to the butterfly house is an aviary.  I don't think they have as many different kinds of birds as butterflies but there are a few.  It is actually kind of neat to be able to walk amongst the birds.

 A nice bright color for a dreary winter.

 Although it didn't look like it was quite ready yet, one of the additions they made is the beaver den.  So far it looks like they just have a river where you can see some of the trout.

 Some sort of vulture.

 One of their camels.

 Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time knows that I like aluminum birds as well.  The Detroit Zoo is almost right on the approach path for Detroit Metro Airport, so I get a chance to get some plane pictures too.

 And of course, I was heading there to catch a wolverine picture of a different sort.  After taking quite a few pictures of the train, I needed to get a picture of a real wolverine.  Fortunately, he didn't disappoint me.

 He was eating a bone of some sort.

 Striking a pose.

 One more shot of him before leaving.

 The eagle is pretty cool too.  Although, I will admit that I've been spoiled being able to take pictures of the eagle they have at the Eastern Michigan football games.

 A squirrel.

 Another angle of the squirrel.

 A bison.

 Normally, I don't see the bear stirring about but I think since it was sunny today, he was doing what bears in the wild do.  Use the sun to do a little hunting or in his case just getting out an exercising a bit.

 Another plane.  I think this one is a DC-9 (or whatever they are calling them these days).

 Not a mere cat...but a meerkat.

 I am really liking the new lion exhibit.  Gives people a chance to be right in front of the lions.  Althoug the pictures aren't as great if the glass isn't clean.

 A lioness.  It's funny how similar the bigger cats are to the one that thinks he owns my apartment.

 Of course I had to stop by the tiger pen.  Since this particular tiger is a Siberian tiger, he feels at home in this kind of weather.

 Lazing about, much like his domestic cousins.

 A stop at the Detroit Zoo wouldn't be complete without a stop at the polar bear exhibit.  For a brief moment, I could be like a National Geographic photographer in the Artic.

 The Horace Rackham Fountain.

 I tried to get some pictures in the reptile building but my lens was fogging up too much to be useful.  Will have to try again when it is a little warmer.

 The river otter giving me a look.

And finishing off almost where we started, at the butterfly house.

I will have to make it a point to not be such a stranger to the zoo.