Return to the Detroit Zoo

So we had our company picnic at the Detroit Zoo on Saturday.  It has been a while since I've been to the zoo.  While much of it hasn't changed, some if it has.

 About two years ago, the Zoo built a new Penguinarium.  It was designed to be closer to the penguin habitat.  It also had better ambient light, so it was easier to take pictures of the penguins.  Unfortunately, it was pretty overcast so I had too low of a shutter speed since I didn't bump up the film speed. At any rate, it is a pretty nice exhibit.  It is splint into two levels and to get to the lower level, you go through a video of a ship going to Antartica.  I think it was supposed to recreate the Shackleton exhibit.  I'll have to go back.  It was raining on Saturday and many of the animals were smarter than the people there.

 I did however, manage to catch a cardinal.  It seems like a cardinal is my white whale in the birding world.  Today I found out that we may have a nest by work.  I'll have to check it out.

 The Rackham Fountain.

 I think this was a peacock.

 I want to say this is an emu but I also want to say I am wrong.

 It was still a pretty cool looking bird.

 A pulled out shot of it.

 One of the eagles.  I like the way this shot came out.  It almost looks like a portrait.  They now have three eagles.

 The bears provided the most entertainment as they were the most active.  Sadly, the polar bear exhibit was in the process of being cleaned, so I couldn't see anything there.  

 It was pretty cool to see the bears though as I don't usually see them.

 And they were posing pretty well for me.

 A closeup shot.  I love my new lens.

 One more shot before moving on.

 A rhino.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get the right angle on it.

 One of the many snow monkeys they have.

 The tiger was also pretty smart.

A pelican.

Like I said, I'm going to have to go back to the zoo.  I kind of forget how much I miss going to it.  Plus, with a membership, I can park at the gate that is closer to the main zoo.

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.