This week's artist is an unnamed (at least as far as I know) dancer at the Metro Richmond Zoo.
We noticed him (or her) while we were still inside the aviary. I can safely say that all three of us (Jake, Rebecca and myself) were all greatly amused by his antics. Rebecca declared he was dancing and I quickly agreed that it really looked like some sort of dance. So when we passed by the flamingo enclosure we waited to see if he would do it again.
And as you can see in the film above, he did not disappoint.
I know the flamingo is not really dancing, just churning the mud to release any insects hiding within the mud to feed upon. But, the bird did his mud stomping with such panache that it really seemed like a little dance.
Showing posts with label zoo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zoo. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Stretch
Ever see a turtle stretch?
I have and here's a picture to prove it.
We saw this little guy on Saturday at the zoo, we had glorious weather, low 80's and sunny. Jake has been wanting to go to the zoo all summer. It wasn't until this weekend that it wasn't hotter than all get out, that we were not too busy and the zoo was open (it's closed on Sundays). As the the critters, as usual for us it was a toss up between the official exhibits and the incidental creatures for which ones we liked the most.
I have and here's a picture to prove it.
We saw this little guy on Saturday at the zoo, we had glorious weather, low 80's and sunny. Jake has been wanting to go to the zoo all summer. It wasn't until this weekend that it wasn't hotter than all get out, that we were not too busy and the zoo was open (it's closed on Sundays). As the the critters, as usual for us it was a toss up between the official exhibits and the incidental creatures for which ones we liked the most.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Field Trip to the Zoo
Today I got to go to the zoo with entire kindergarten from Max and Rebecca's school.
The kindergarten trip to the zoo is an annual event and it was the first year I could attend. The zoo itself is real not a big deal for our family, being season pass holders for over four years, but it is always fun. Today's trip was no exception. The prairie dogs were feisty today and would come very close to the enclosure's fencing. As a result I was able to take the best photo I have ever taken of a prairie dog.
Anyway, since this was a school trip there was an actual educational portion to our visit. We got to learn about birds, reptiles and mammals on a kindergarten friendly level. But the best part was that we got to see some examples up close. Much to Max's delight TJ the penguin was brought out for the bird portion. Then the handler announced next up would be reptiles. After a little discussion about what is a reptile she went in back to fetch an example. At this point about a half dozen people left the amphitheater. They (rightly so it turns out) thought a snake was going to brought out and wanted to leave before the handler returned. And what a snake it was. Mac is an albino Burmese Python that is 10 feet long is about 10 years old. I thought it was neat that we could for once get a clear view of the snake and get a better idea of its size. Next up were mammals and we got treated with meeting one of the zoo's young chimps. I *think* its name was Quentin, but I do know it was male and very cute. Then it was off to see the zoo.
Max and I did a quick tour, it was getting late and he was getting hungry. S we headed back for snack we met up with some of Max's classmates. One of them wanted to see the bats and I offered to take him in. The other mom was very happy to skip that portion and Max was happy to have a friend in the bat house. Max, strangely enough, loves going to see the bats. He gets freaked out over all sorts of ordinary things, but not bats. That is the mystery of Max. After the bats we had snack and then a quick run to see the bears.
On the way I took this picture of Max and his classmate. They are looking at the porcupines and I was struck by how much physically alike the two boys are are. When viewed from behind they really look more like twins than Max and Rebecca. I can tell them apart, but can you?
The kindergarten trip to the zoo is an annual event and it was the first year I could attend. The zoo itself is real not a big deal for our family, being season pass holders for over four years, but it is always fun. Today's trip was no exception. The prairie dogs were feisty today and would come very close to the enclosure's fencing. As a result I was able to take the best photo I have ever taken of a prairie dog.
Anyway, since this was a school trip there was an actual educational portion to our visit. We got to learn about birds, reptiles and mammals on a kindergarten friendly level. But the best part was that we got to see some examples up close. Much to Max's delight TJ the penguin was brought out for the bird portion. Then the handler announced next up would be reptiles. After a little discussion about what is a reptile she went in back to fetch an example. At this point about a half dozen people left the amphitheater. They (rightly so it turns out) thought a snake was going to brought out and wanted to leave before the handler returned. And what a snake it was. Mac is an albino Burmese Python that is 10 feet long is about 10 years old. I thought it was neat that we could for once get a clear view of the snake and get a better idea of its size. Next up were mammals and we got treated with meeting one of the zoo's young chimps. I *think* its name was Quentin, but I do know it was male and very cute. Then it was off to see the zoo.
Max and I did a quick tour, it was getting late and he was getting hungry. S we headed back for snack we met up with some of Max's classmates. One of them wanted to see the bats and I offered to take him in. The other mom was very happy to skip that portion and Max was happy to have a friend in the bat house. Max, strangely enough, loves going to see the bats. He gets freaked out over all sorts of ordinary things, but not bats. That is the mystery of Max. After the bats we had snack and then a quick run to see the bears.
On the way I took this picture of Max and his classmate. They are looking at the porcupines and I was struck by how much physically alike the two boys are are. When viewed from behind they really look more like twins than Max and Rebecca. I can tell them apart, but can you?
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
It's Not Just Any Zoo
It's the National Zoo.
So here are a few pictures from last week's trip to the National Zoo.
We all love going to the zoo and I thought it would be a good spring break diversion. It is a reasonable driving distance, the zoo itself is free (parking is another story) and the weather promised to be fairly good (especially compared to the truly awful heat and humidity DC experiences in the summer).
Originally I planned for us to leave by 9, quarter to 10 was closer to the truth. The Zoo's website recommends that you arrive before 10, but that's just crazy talk for this crowd. I was a little concerned about parking, but driving was really our best option. Paying for public transportation and parking would be prohibitively expensive for the five of us. I figured that even with the cost of gas it was better for us to risk the parking. Plus then we could have a picnic and be able to stash our stuff in the car when we were done.
We got up there at about 12:30 and the parking lots were full. We did a slow tour of the lots and were waved on by the parking attendants. I briefly contemplated parking on one of the residential streets nearby, but I was leery of the 2 hour time limit. I would have been happier with a three hour limit, that struck me as about the right amount of time. So I turned the van back towards the zoo's lots and tried to remain hopeful. After one slow lap I saw a lot open up for the car ahead of us. I was allowed in and at that point the lot was closed off again. Talk about lucky! We had to wait for the family of 10 (!) load up their van, but I was fine with that. We were going to have a legitimate parking space.
Then it was off to the zoo.
We entered the grounds by the maned wolf. One of them was out and checking out the antelopes housed next door. The wolves are visually striking and possibly one of the stinkiest animals (short of a skunk) that I have ever smelt. You do not want to eat your lunch by them. We did, however, enjoy watching it before the wolf retreated to it's little den. Then it was time to move on to what we really wanted to see, Pandas.
Two of the of the pandas were outside in their yards. The third (and I have no idea which one it was) was lolling about on some rocks indoors. I got one rather grainy shot of the panda scratching it's belly, but I like this one more of my boys.
As you can see they have decided to grow their hair out. Both of them have mop tops with Nate looking positively Beatlesque.
Anyhoo, after the pandas we ended up going to the birds.
The indoor exhibits were very nicely done, I liked the large indoor aviary, but the outdoor exhibits wee better. We were all fascinated by the Double-wattled Cassowary. The combination of the horny protuberance on it's head and the vivid coloration of it's neck and wattles gave it a rather Jurassic appearance. But, they were not my favorite bird. That honor went to the flamingos. I love their brillant pink plumage. We have them at our local zoo, but they never get as close to the fence as this flock. From the birds we strolled back through panda world and eventually ended up in the Small Mammal House.
We got to see tree shrews (very cute), tamarins (also very cute), meerkats (cute) and naked mole-rats (freakishly ugly).
You know how sometimes something is so ugly it's cute? Naked mole-rats are not like that. Their little tunnel exhibit looked like some sort of post apocalyptic hamster habitat gone horribly wrong. Excessive nuclear radiation gone wrong. They are nothing like Rufus from Kim Possible. So I won't show you them, instead you'll have to settle for a picture of Rebecca (extremely cute) under a palm frond. (Note: the line across her face is a stray hair that was not nearly as noticeable in the dimly lit building).
After the small mammals we by passed the great Apes because nobody was interested. However we did like the Orangutan highway above our heads. From April to October at certain times the Orangs are free to move from on part of the zoo to another via overhead cables. The Orangs weren't out yet, but it was still fun to imagine them swinging overhead. We also gave a pass on the reptile House (too crowded, there was a line just to get inside.)
However we did see the Komodo Dragon, which was on Jake's must see list. It was terribly active, but we did find it. At this point everybody was getting anxious and ready to go. We paid a quick visit to the big cats, had a quick potty break and headed over to the all important gift shop.
On the way we passed a life sized sculpture of a triceratops. This is Max's all time favorite dinosaur. I asked him if he wanted a picture and he zoomed on over. His smile is a bit odd because he is showing off the little gap in his smile. He had just lost that tooth just a few days ago.
Rebecca than dragged us on to go shopping. She had been dying to buy something from the get go. Quite honestly she would have been happy with just going to a gift shop and blowing her allowance. But instead her mean mommy dragged her through out the zoo before letting her shop. The first shop was a bust (she only had $7 and it really wasn't enough to get what she wanted), but the next one we stopped at was the clearance tent and she got a cute little camel. Max got a triceratops, Jake got a panda and Nate got bupkis. He didn't bring his money and confided to me it was probably best that he left his money at home. That way he would save it for something good. Such a smart boy. We then headed back to the van and home.
So here are a few pictures from last week's trip to the National Zoo.
We all love going to the zoo and I thought it would be a good spring break diversion. It is a reasonable driving distance, the zoo itself is free (parking is another story) and the weather promised to be fairly good (especially compared to the truly awful heat and humidity DC experiences in the summer).
Originally I planned for us to leave by 9, quarter to 10 was closer to the truth. The Zoo's website recommends that you arrive before 10, but that's just crazy talk for this crowd. I was a little concerned about parking, but driving was really our best option. Paying for public transportation and parking would be prohibitively expensive for the five of us. I figured that even with the cost of gas it was better for us to risk the parking. Plus then we could have a picnic and be able to stash our stuff in the car when we were done.
We got up there at about 12:30 and the parking lots were full. We did a slow tour of the lots and were waved on by the parking attendants. I briefly contemplated parking on one of the residential streets nearby, but I was leery of the 2 hour time limit. I would have been happier with a three hour limit, that struck me as about the right amount of time. So I turned the van back towards the zoo's lots and tried to remain hopeful. After one slow lap I saw a lot open up for the car ahead of us. I was allowed in and at that point the lot was closed off again. Talk about lucky! We had to wait for the family of 10 (!) load up their van, but I was fine with that. We were going to have a legitimate parking space.
Then it was off to the zoo.
We entered the grounds by the maned wolf. One of them was out and checking out the antelopes housed next door. The wolves are visually striking and possibly one of the stinkiest animals (short of a skunk) that I have ever smelt. You do not want to eat your lunch by them. We did, however, enjoy watching it before the wolf retreated to it's little den. Then it was time to move on to what we really wanted to see, Pandas.
Two of the of the pandas were outside in their yards. The third (and I have no idea which one it was) was lolling about on some rocks indoors. I got one rather grainy shot of the panda scratching it's belly, but I like this one more of my boys.
As you can see they have decided to grow their hair out. Both of them have mop tops with Nate looking positively Beatlesque.
Anyhoo, after the pandas we ended up going to the birds.
The indoor exhibits were very nicely done, I liked the large indoor aviary, but the outdoor exhibits wee better. We were all fascinated by the Double-wattled Cassowary. The combination of the horny protuberance on it's head and the vivid coloration of it's neck and wattles gave it a rather Jurassic appearance. But, they were not my favorite bird. That honor went to the flamingos. I love their brillant pink plumage. We have them at our local zoo, but they never get as close to the fence as this flock. From the birds we strolled back through panda world and eventually ended up in the Small Mammal House.
We got to see tree shrews (very cute), tamarins (also very cute), meerkats (cute) and naked mole-rats (freakishly ugly).
You know how sometimes something is so ugly it's cute? Naked mole-rats are not like that. Their little tunnel exhibit looked like some sort of post apocalyptic hamster habitat gone horribly wrong. Excessive nuclear radiation gone wrong. They are nothing like Rufus from Kim Possible. So I won't show you them, instead you'll have to settle for a picture of Rebecca (extremely cute) under a palm frond. (Note: the line across her face is a stray hair that was not nearly as noticeable in the dimly lit building).
After the small mammals we by passed the great Apes because nobody was interested. However we did like the Orangutan highway above our heads. From April to October at certain times the Orangs are free to move from on part of the zoo to another via overhead cables. The Orangs weren't out yet, but it was still fun to imagine them swinging overhead. We also gave a pass on the reptile House (too crowded, there was a line just to get inside.)
However we did see the Komodo Dragon, which was on Jake's must see list. It was terribly active, but we did find it. At this point everybody was getting anxious and ready to go. We paid a quick visit to the big cats, had a quick potty break and headed over to the all important gift shop.
On the way we passed a life sized sculpture of a triceratops. This is Max's all time favorite dinosaur. I asked him if he wanted a picture and he zoomed on over. His smile is a bit odd because he is showing off the little gap in his smile. He had just lost that tooth just a few days ago.
Rebecca than dragged us on to go shopping. She had been dying to buy something from the get go. Quite honestly she would have been happy with just going to a gift shop and blowing her allowance. But instead her mean mommy dragged her through out the zoo before letting her shop. The first shop was a bust (she only had $7 and it really wasn't enough to get what she wanted), but the next one we stopped at was the clearance tent and she got a cute little camel. Max got a triceratops, Jake got a panda and Nate got bupkis. He didn't bring his money and confided to me it was probably best that he left his money at home. That way he would save it for something good. Such a smart boy. We then headed back to the van and home.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Tired
I took the crew up to DC today. We went to the National Zoo, which was great fun, but tiring.
We didn't see the whole thing since we left home a bit late and I needed to get Jake home in time for a bit of dinner before his 7:30 base ball practice. I took a bunch of pictures and I'll post them as soon as I get them developed.
We didn't see the whole thing since we left home a bit late and I needed to get Jake home in time for a bit of dinner before his 7:30 base ball practice. I took a bunch of pictures and I'll post them as soon as I get them developed.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Summer is Back
Summer is back with a vengeance. For the past few days we have been enjoying the most delightful weather. Temperatures were in the low to mid eighties, humidity levels have been down and each night the temperature would drop to the mid fifties.
Heaven.
Sadly all good things come to an end and yesterday the temperature started to creep up to the nineties. We are back to Virginia's normal sticky, icky summer weather.
Luckily I realized that the good times wouldn't last, so on Monday I took my brood to the zoo.
The parking lot was more than half full when we arrived, but as always I snagged a spot near the entrance. With passes in had we sailed in and bought a couple of cups of zoo treats. The animals were fairly active that day, even thought it was mid afternoon. They too appreciated the nicer weather. As always one of our favorite stops was the giraffe petting area.
Jake and Nate took turns feeding this particular fellow. The giraffe was just tall enough to get its head over the fence.
Max and Rebecca were far more interested in the younger giraffes that were below the fence.
They would reach through the fence and try to entice the "baby ones" to come a little bit closer. On the whole they were successful. The smaller ones were a bit skittish, but the lure of food was hard to resist.
After awhile we tired of the giraffes and moved on.
The rest of the zoo was pleasant, except for a bit of whining from the younger set for snack. It was far too early and the whining sealed the deal, no snack until we get home. They got over it when we saw the deer.
There are a number of fawns this year and one of them was actually gamboling about. I shot a short little video of the fawn in action.
I think the odd soundtrack actually adds to the film. Guess which of us said what.
Heaven.
Sadly all good things come to an end and yesterday the temperature started to creep up to the nineties. We are back to Virginia's normal sticky, icky summer weather.
Luckily I realized that the good times wouldn't last, so on Monday I took my brood to the zoo.
The parking lot was more than half full when we arrived, but as always I snagged a spot near the entrance. With passes in had we sailed in and bought a couple of cups of zoo treats. The animals were fairly active that day, even thought it was mid afternoon. They too appreciated the nicer weather. As always one of our favorite stops was the giraffe petting area.
Jake and Nate took turns feeding this particular fellow. The giraffe was just tall enough to get its head over the fence.
Max and Rebecca were far more interested in the younger giraffes that were below the fence.
They would reach through the fence and try to entice the "baby ones" to come a little bit closer. On the whole they were successful. The smaller ones were a bit skittish, but the lure of food was hard to resist.
After awhile we tired of the giraffes and moved on.
The rest of the zoo was pleasant, except for a bit of whining from the younger set for snack. It was far too early and the whining sealed the deal, no snack until we get home. They got over it when we saw the deer.
There are a number of fawns this year and one of them was actually gamboling about. I shot a short little video of the fawn in action.
I think the odd soundtrack actually adds to the film. Guess which of us said what.
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