Tag Archives: wildlife

Young Snow Leopards

As members of the Brookfield Zoo, we get regular emails telling us about changes that have taken place at the zoo. A recent email caught our eye. Two new Snow Leopard cubs have arrived at the zoo. There was a YouTube video of them playing in their enclosure. They are not related but are of similar age and have been paired. Just like any small cat, they were full of energy and were rolling around and fighting. Exceedingly cute!

We figured we need to get there to see them. When Hudson the polar bear was a cub, we were a bit slow in getting to see him and he was a little large by the time we first caught him. Still very cute but certainly a lot bigger. It seems that Snow Leopards grow fast too! With winter (supposedly) here, animals outside are a rarer event since a lot fo the zoo’s creatures are not suited to Chicago winters. We also wanted a sunny day to make some photography opportunities.

We did get to the zoo and we were lucky to have a great weather day. Both the leopards were out in their enclosure. They are already quite large so we missed the cutest stage. However, they are still quite playful. They have some high locations that they like to rest on but they would still fight with each other. I watched one sneak up on the other and the leap in the air that resulted was very funny.

Shooting them in the enclosure can be tricky. There is a glass wall which gives great viewing but makes shooting a little tricky. The glass is thick and the light is very shaded. In the enclosure open spaces they are more easily shot. However, the high rock area they like to rest on is very close to the netting that keeps them in. When they are further in, a shallow depth of field will remove the netting from the shot but when they are close to it, there is nothing you can do. Hence, I apologize for the net in some shots but I still think they look cool!

Halloween at the Zoo

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Whether it is the weather or whether it is some subconscious thing, it appears that we get lured to the zoo at Halloween. The weekend weather forecast looked very promising so we thought we pop out to Brookfield to see what the animals were doing. It was only when we got there that we realized that, being Halloween weekend, everyone was there in costumes.

This triggered something from our recollection that we had done the same thing last year. Let’s go to the zoo when everyone else is planning on being there and all dressed up! (I will leave my thoughts on Halloween for another post I suspect.)

As it turned out, the center area of the zoo was very busy but the rest of it was no busier than most weekends. The sun was out and the animal were active so it was a good time to go. We got particularly lucky with a couple of things.

I have never seen the kangaroos move before. They have always been lying down taking a nap when I have been there. Sometimes, this is tucked up against the wall for extra shade. However, this time they got up and fed for a while and even hopped across the enclosure. That was a big plus.

Next we arrived at the brown bear enclosure and the staff were seeding the place with vegetables for the bears to find and feed on. Consequently, we got a couple of grizzlies rummaging around the enclosure for a long time. Given their love for dozing this was a result. I guess the polar bears had already been fed since they were out for the count.

The lions are always a stop for us. The male was lying down and looked like he was falling asleep. A lion roaring has a very small mouth shape which doesn’t look like much. A lion yawning, on the other hand, has a wide mouth and lots of teeth. A good photo opportunity! A little patience and we were rewarded with a big view of fangs! As an aside, lions are not empathetic creatures since we tried yawning a bunch of time to try and induce a yawn but to no effect!

Out last stop was the leopard. Normally another one having a nap when we are there, this time he was also on the prowl. We only had a few minutes before it was time to lie down again but even so, this was better than normal. Not a bad day out!

More Zoo Stuff

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Previously I showed the pictures of Kalina, the baby elephant. Indy Zoo has plenty of other things to see. It is not a large zoo but it is nicely laid out and has a good selection of things to see. I find visits to zoos to be an interesting time. The places are filled with parents dragging very young children around. I wonder whether parents feel an immediate need to take their kids to the zoo. They kids certainly don’t seem to care. They are dragged around and told what to look at but they don’t seem in the least bit interested. It seems that around 10 years old is the point when the kids seem genuinely interested in the animals.

Anyway, plenty of things to see at the zoo so here are some shots of the various animals on exhibit. Some of the indoor ones were tricky given the limited lighting but they are included anyway.

Flashing at the birds

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While hanging around up in Door County in Wisconsin, I have been taking a bunch of pictures of the local wildlife. Mainly a lot of birds in the vicinity of our hotel and that is always a fun challenge. To add to the challenge, one of the afternoons that we were back at the hotel, the weather closed in and it began to rain. There was a patch of grass outside our balcony that seemed to be a popular spot for some robins so I started taking some shots.

As you are probably aware, robins are quite bold creatures so, with a little patience, you can end up with them coming reasonably close in. However, with the light having faded fast as the weather deteriorated and the natural shade of the area, it was not looking good to get a good shot. I started out by bumping up the ISO but that was only helping so much and, without a tripod, I was still going to get mixed results.

At this point I decided to try something that everyone who shoots wildlife a lot probably does to some extent but that I had not tried before and that was using some flash to boost the excitement. I had no idea how much to use so experimented with a little extra FEC, then zero and ultimately one stop under on FEC. The latter seemed to have the best results judging by the quick view on the back of the camera – always such a reliable indicator!

I was using the flashgun straight with no boost like a Better Beamer (if that is the right name) so it was a bit of a raw experiment but the results seemed to be be pretty pleasing so this is something I will have to think about further in due course.

Hello froggy

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Our hotel in Door County Wisconsin had access to the beach across some marshy land. Resident in these marshes was a colony of frogs. You were in no doubt they lived there since most of the time they were trying hard to let you (or more likely every frog of the opposite sex) know that they were there. During the day this blended into the background a little but at night it was a steady sound that actually became quite soothing after a while.

I decided to go and find some of these frogs. This is less straightforward since, while they advertise themselves constantly when you are a distance away, they get awfully shy as you approach. They switch off as soon as you get reasonably close and wait for you to go. Get a distance away again and they are back making whatever noise it is that a frog makes.

Spotting them as they lurk in the water is a little hard at first until you get used to what you are looking for. They head will be just proud of the surface of the water, probably surrounded by weed to he camouflage them. The regularity of the head shape is the giveaway. Once you get too close they disappear under the surface with a plop!

What I don’t know about frogs is whether they are very confident in their ability to get away or whether they are a bit dopey. If you approach slowly, you can actually get very close to them indeed. Maybe they are constantly assessing the threat I pose or maybe they don’t realize I am there until they have an “oh crap” moment and dive for safety. Anyway, whichever it is, I was able to get some good face to face time with a couple of them.

Thankfully not too many people were around or they might have been wondering why I was lying on a wooden walkway across a marsh!

Spring Shows Up!

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The Chicago weather has been pretty cool and damp so far and spring was not showing much sign of appearing. I often forget that we are quite far north here and the spring does not become apparent until a little later than I was used to. However, we had a day the other day that broke the mold. After lots of dull days, it was sunny and in the high 80s. What the hell is that all about?

A nice day and lots of light – time to go wandering in the park. Lincoln Park is always worth a visit on a nice day – and I was obviously not alone in this conclusion! There is the zoo but the ponds in the park also have a fair amount of wildlife so there is always something to take a look at.

The bird life is always active so I got a lot of shots of ducks and geese. At this time of year, romance is in the air so the birds seem to spend half the time fighting with each other! There were also a few turtles basking in the sun so they were fun to take a look at. I did walk through the zoo and got a few shots there but mainly it was stuff in the rest of the park. Here are a few samples. Need to get some more practice in given how many shots were not as intended but that is the point I guess…

Zoo Time

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Brookfield Zoo is a regular haunt for us. It is a great zoo, constantly being improved and an obvious source of photo opportunities. Recently, they sent out an email telling us that the African Wild Dogs had a load of puppies that were now old enough to be on public show. (I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t just their age but also that is was now warm enough for them to handle Chicago!)

We took a ride down to the zoo to see how the pups were looking. As with all animals at the zoo, when we got there to see them, they had decided that taking a nap was more important. I always find that a zoo trip requires a fair bit of patience (which is why I am mystified that so many parents take tiny kids – they always seem to be bored while the parents look like they are obligated to take children to see the animals.)

We wandered around to see some of the other wildlife before heading back. The new bear exhibit at Brookfield is nicely done and well worth the visit so we spent some time watching the bears before heading back. A peacock wandered by in the meantime and suddenly decided to do his display. It was very dramatic, particularly if you are a peahen apparently, as a bunch of them came running over. Certainly and unexpected surprise and a very welcome one.

Back to the African Wild Dogs and a few of them were up and about. They were no longer a huge pile of sleeping pups. They weren’t bounding all over the place but they were a lot more active. It was certainly fun to see them and good to see them before they get too big. They are already half their full size so it won’t be long before you can’t tell them from their parents.

On the way out, it was impossible to avoid taking a peak at the lions. The lion was roaring loudly as we approached and was giving the lioness a fair amount of attention. I wondered whether lots of children were about to have their eyes covered but the lioness obviously had other plans and moved off. I guess spring really is in the air. First the peacock and then the lion!