A Sunny (but Cold) Day at the Detroit Zoo

It was a nice enough day today and there is a little bit of a wait before I can start seeing ships on a regular basis, so I decided to head over to the Detroit Zoo.  It was the first time I've been there in a couple months which is kind of a shame because I do like to visit it during the winter.  Then again, we really haven't had much of a winter this year.

I think think this is a stork or a crane.  I'm not sure which.  Usually there are other birds in this particular pen but this one looks cool enough.

This is some sort of deer.  I'm not sure if he is missing an eye or has it closed for some reason.

A shot of one of the camels.  Usually they are standing around but not today.

The Horace Rackham fountain.  Pretty soon it will be flowing water again but it still isn't quite warm enough.

A close up of one of the bear heads.

A little closer and a different angle of that head.

My second favorite exhibit at the zoo is the eagle exhibit.  These are eagles that wont fly again so the Detroit Zoo will take care of them.  It is cool to get close to them but I prefer the ones in the wild.

Another shot of that eagle.  This one is about 4 years old and is starting to get his white head.  I think he flew into some wires in Alaska and they were able to save him.

This eagle is much older than the other one.  He is missing about half a wing.

Even though he is grounded, he is still a majestic looking bird.

Another shot of the younger eagle.

I tried to get a nice closeup of his head.

Unfortunately, I was shooting at the artic fox through glass, so the background shows up over him.  Despite that, I still like this picture.

One of the polar bears was deciding this was a good time for a nap.

The other was deciding it was a good time for a walk.

I would have to say that the Artic exhibit at the Detroit Zoo is definately one of my favorites.  It's almost big enough that you can get pictures of the animals with out too many distractions in the background.

I think he is sniffing around.

And one of the other polar bears decided to disturb the napping one.  I can relate.

And the other one just keeps on walking.

It was kind of cool because they were feeding the seals as I came around the bend.  I don't usually get to see them out of the water.

The other seal.

Someone is about to get lucky.

I forget exactly what type of horse this is but it reminds me of one of those horses you see in the caveman paintings.

Another shot of the eagle.

And one of a prairie dog.  This exhibit is pretty neat too.  If you are small enough you can get in the middle of it.

A zebra.  I wonder if this one is as blind as some of the zebras covering the EMU games?

A type of ape.

I think this is a peacock.  Is it a standard that they are allowed to walk around the zoo?

I really love the new lion exhibit at the zoo because you can get up close to the lions.  Also, I think they used a somewhat non-reflective glass so you don't get glare in the shots.

And the big cat doing what cats do.  It's funny, as I type this, Zappa is doing the same thing.

A baboon?

The tiger.

He is moving a little closer to me.

This is the look that says, "You're lucky there is that moat between us".

I'm not sure if shows up in this picture but there was a little steam on his breathe.

A llama or alpaca?

And one last shot of the Horace Rackham fountain.