Skywatch Friday - Zoo Atlanta

New pine cones growing in the summer? No, it's not Tampa. I stopped by Zoo Atlanta for a quick visit while I was visiting my in-laws recently. Hey, anything to get out of the in-law house for an hour, right? The pine cones were bright green and looked pretty against the blue sky. They were in the asian section next to the panda house. The pandas were all sleeping while I was there so that was not fun. Below are some of the animals at the zoo. Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa does not have pandas, gorillas or lions so I was trying to get some pictures of those.

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Baby birds at the zoo

Great egret bringing a stick to the nest.


Baby blue heron.

Two baby blue herons with mom.

Another nest with mom feeding 3 baby blues.

Two baby blue heron siblings.

Lowry Park zoo is now full of wild baby birds in the trees around the alligator exhibit. The great egrets are high up in the trees so it's hard to see the babies, although you can hear them crying for food. The palm trees around the edge of the alligator exhibit are full of blue heron nests. The fuzzy white birds are so cute at this age. They are all trying to walk around and flap their wings.
I saw some snowy egrets building nests as well as one spoonbill so I'm going to try and get back there in a couple of weeks.

Fun zoo animals

Another trip to Lowry Park zoo last week provided a lot of fun. Even with the heat, there was a lot going on in the morning. The zoo got crowded fast. I never understood why the locals wait until it's 90 degrees outside to visit the zoo. The best time to go is in the winter. Hardy anyone there and with the cool weather the animals are out playing most of the day. Now, all of the animals are asleep in the shade in the back of the exhibit by noon. I left around 11:30am and people were pouring in. I wanted to yell, they're all asleep already. Now is the time though to catch the elephants playing in the water. One was really going for a deep dive. The 2 baby zebras were out running around. Baby Jaya (rhino) will be one in July. She was giving mom kisses. It was a productive morning but once the serious heat set in I headed for home.

New babies at the zoo

Baby orangutan playing.

Momma duck with her new babies.



New baby white rhino in the African section of the zoo being very curious. Yum!


New baby zebra nursing.

Baby siamang gibbon learning to swing.

There are lots of babies at the Lowry Park zoo right now. While I was there recently, they were all running around playing since it was still a little cool out in the morning. Soon it will be so hot that all of the animals will be sleeping most of the day. There were already several baby duck groups. The pond in the elephant exhibit had a duck with several babies. I guess they don't mind swimming with the elephants. The above picture of the ducks were taken in one of the primate ponds. Soon the zoo will be full of baby ducks. The wild birds were starting to nest in the area around the alligator exhibit. Little blue herons were sitting on nests. There were already baby great egrets high up in the trees. Caution note - keep an eye out in the trees on the boardwalk there. You could get pooped on by the wild birds who live up in those trees.

Update on shoebill stork baby

The baby stork has gotten big.

One of the parents.

The african shoebill stork that was born on Christmas day at Lowry Park zoo is now almost 4 months old. It now looks almost like an adult. His (or her) feathers are darker than the parent's and the beak looks clean compared to the adult's marked up beak. It stood up for a few minutes while I was there and then sat back down again. This is 2nd baby shoebill to be born in captivity and the first in the US. It looks like it's going to be a great stork. Hopefully the parents can do this again next year. While I was leaving the zoo a flock of white pelicans were flying high up in the sky. I was able to snap the below picture as the birds were probably flying up north (maybe Canada) for the summer.

Atlanta Part 3 - Zoo's otters

On a recent trip to Atlanta, I stopped by the zoo. I happened to walk by the river otter exhibit when the otters woke up and started to play. Usually you pass by these guys and they are sleeping in a bundle. They were so cute. They had a big crowd watching and the kids were going crazy. Above are some of my favorite pictures.

Seductive Scarlet

Not too long ago (three years), I caught the birding bug which has evolved into an interest in observation and capturing imagery of avian wildlife in Florida where I live.

The Snowy Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

I had first heard of a bird known as the Scarlet Ibis over a year ago which I believe I first saw at the website of fellow pbaser Bob Duckwall who has photographed it.

This bird species is not indigenous to the southwest Florida area, but considered an escapee from a zoo or private collection of birds after one of the hurricanes that has ravaged the southeastern United States over the years.

The Willet above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

According to Wikipedia, the species may also have been intentionally introduced to the area beyond its hybridization with the White Ibis in 1962.

"Scarlet," as I believe it to be affectionately known in my immediate area has been elusive to me although there is the very remote chance that it may have been seen last year at Lovers Key State Park as a bird I thought very unusual and possibly photographed by Alena King.

The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

With today my best opportunity to search for the Scarlet Ibis this past week, I made a journey to Estero Lagoon with hopes of catching sight of it at least.

The bird species was photographed at the lagoon on 10 February 2010 by BPN contributor Mike Landwehr of Waukee, Iowa.

The Northern Cardinal above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

On my way to Estero Lagoon which I believed to be an area the bird might be seen again, I drove behind the Church of the Ascension which offered a great opportunity for wildlife viewing.

This was the place that my acquaintance, Linda Grasp, at Harns Marsh Preserve offered through her contact John Dougherty of Morrisville, NY.

The Snowy Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

I was not completely sure of this location as Linda had noted John's observations of the Scarlet Ibis well beyond the mainland of Fort Myers on Sanibel Island if not closer to Captiva Island.

My observations this week as I made my way to Estero Lagoon after viewing 11 White Ibis including two juveniles were muted by just a relaxing long overdue trip to the beach.

The White Ibis above was photographed near Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

I thought I had read weeks ago that the Estero Lagoon area had set up its bird nesting boundaries to protect its nesting birds including terns and plovers, but I saw no evidence of that as yet.

I don't know exactly where those prohibitions might be as I have not observed them in the past.

The Brown Pelican above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

As I normally do, I park at the accommodating shopping plaza just south of the Holiday Inn at the beach and walk to the lagoon area from there.

Most recently I walked north beyond the perimeter of the lagoon with the sound of music and DJ at the tiki hut.

The wildlife photographer above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

As I headed south I caught sight of the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron that I had not seen in a long while so I paused to experiment with my flash in photographing it.

This particular bird allowed be to get within the limits of my focusing range of it as it was very subdued.

The Snowy Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

In this immediate area I was able to capture the Northern Cardinal and listen to its call from the mangroves it was well hidden in.

Slowly making my way further beyond the lagoon, I was captivated by a trey of Snowy Egret that were feeding in the surf of the Gulf of Mexico with one of the birds apparently injured in some way as it had a limp in its movement.

The wildlife photographer above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

Before I left this particular part of the beach, there were observations made of Willet, though not sure what type as Tom Obrock has recently noted.

Rounding the bend I encountered a family group that I would learn was also Iowan where I was asked to capture an image of the family with their camera (birding was not their thing, but is NASCAR and photography of it).

The family above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

Just before meeting these people, I observed an American Oystercatcher which was unmistakable in its flight south along the beach.

I wasn't able to catch up to it, but saw the other regulars that I had hoped to see that are missed when not having visited the beach in a long while.

The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Lovers Key State Park in March 2009.

While primarily interested in photography of birds, there were a few photographers that were interestingly shooting directly into the light although it was subdued with heavy cloud cover.

I was compelled to photograph them as well with expectations to meet them all, but there wasn't the time and focused on the wildlife subjects at hand, one photographer simply inexplicably disappeared.

The Ruddy Turnstone above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

I was able to speak briefly with Alain visiting from France whom I recommended find the Burrowing Owls in Cape Coral which are especially photogenic this time of year.

Although the Scarlet Ibis was not observed this week, I will continue to search for this elusive and seductive creature.

The sunset above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in April 2010.

John Dougherty recommends the sighting of the Scarlet Ibis this time of year at Lakes Park.

Circle of Life - baby zebra

A baby zebra was born on St. Patrick's day at Lowry Park zoo. Above is a video from the zoo of the baby zebra taking it's first steps and below is the official press release from the zoo with a great picture. Hopefully in the next couple of weekends I will be able to get there to get some pictures.

http://www.lowryparkzoo.com/_page_content/media_information/documents/TLPZ%20Grevy%20zebra%20birth.pdf

A duck is a duck.

American wigeon. He has a pretty blue bill that is outlined in black.

Your basic mallard. They really are pretty with their yellow beak, bright green head and orange feet.

This female mallard is very friendly, walking around on the sidewalk getting very close to people.

Beautiful purple feathers are outlined in white. These are present in both the male and female mallards.

Black bellied whistling ducks have light pink beaks and bright pink feet. It's pretty in contrast to the black and brown body.

Male ruddy duck. He also has a pretty blue bill.

Time for a nap.

I used to think all ducks looked alike. They all quacked and paddled around on top of the water. In the past year I have been learning about all of the different ducks and their distinguishing features. I noticed on a recent trip to the zoo how many different ducks were at the zoo and how different they all looked. They all had different beautiful features. An important note - not all ducks quack, there are some ducks that whistle when they are flying.