Tag Archives: woodland park zoo

Flamingos Fighting and Sleeping

Wildlife is an attractive subject for photography, particularly when the creature in question is colorful. A flamingo certainly fits the bill with the vibrant pink coloring. In addition, given that they have such long necks and shapely heads, they can curl themselves up in ways that make for an interesting image. The Woodland Park Zoo had a bunch of flamingos (a prize for the person that tells me the collective noun for flamingos without having to Google it).

Most of the birds were just hanging around, wandering about the enclosure and eating/drinking. A few of them were asleep and a couple seemed to be pretty aggravated with each other. These guys were chasing around the place and generally getting worked up which seemed to be nothing more than an inconvenience to the other birds. The ones trying to sleep seemed particularly unimpressed by the disturbance.

The way in which a flamingo will sleep makes for a cool shot. Aside from the single leg pose (apparently easy even while unconscious), they curl their necks around and rest their heads on the back of their bodies, apparently facing backwards. The curve of the neck and the way in which the head sits in their back feathers is a great shape and zooming right in to get a tight shot of this seemed to make a lot of sense. (Besides, when you are carrying a long lens all day, shooting with it must be the right thing to do huh?)

The Red Pandas are Performers

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Visiting the zoo is often a game of hide and seek with the animals. They live according to their normal schedules and are not inclined to be active just because you happen to be there. They also will find a favored location in their enclosure which is not putting them on display to the animals on the other side of the glass. You may catch a glimpse of something sleeping in a shadowy space or you may wonder whether the animal is even in there.

When we got to the red panda enclosure, I was half expecting to not see very much. I figured this would be another reclusive creature. I was wrong. I don’t know whether they are naturally energetic creatures, whether they are curious about their visitors or whether some unseen motivation is given to them to get out there but these guys were the exact opposite of what I had anticipated. They had a number of trees within their space and they were very happy to zip around through the branches. This often brought them right up front to where the visitors were standing. They would happily motor about, stare at the people, head back, disappear for a while before reappearing and repeating the process. Their public was suitably appreciative.

Gorillas Have a Taste for Flowers

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I knew that gorillas were vegetarians, happy to chomp on branches and leaves for hours at a time. What I didn’t know is that they have what I guess might be considered a sweet tooth. They were scattered throughout their enclosure but two of them were together in one section that had a glass viewing wall for the other apes to watch them. The staff had recently put a load of food out for them and this included some bunches of flowers.

When I first saw the flowers, I was slightly perplexed. It seemed like an odd thing to have put out. However, the alpha male homed in on them. Even then I assumed he would eat the leaves. Not so. He was happy to strip the flowers from the branches and chew them up. The rate at which he went through them made it seem pretty clear that this was a preferred treat for him. Having never tried eating flowers, I have no idea what they taste like. They smell nice so does that translate into a nice flavor? I’m not going to try eating some to find out but, judging by his approach, there must be something to them.

Are You a Dragon or a Monitor?

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Most people have probably heard of Komodo Dragons. However, while checking out this fella at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, I read that they were known as Komodo Monitors for many years until some guy from the US saw one in the 20s and decided to start calling them dragons. Amazingly, it seems it stuck. They certainly don’t fit the traditional image of dragons but they are pretty dangerous if they happen to bite you. At that point, I doubt you will be too bothered about the the distinction and more bothered about your potential impending death.

Warthogs – Not the Flying Version

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Given that this blog has a lot of aviation content, some people will get excited when they see the word Warthog. Sorry guys, this is not an A-10 post. I may have to put one together now though since I want to see some A-10s on here too. This is a warthog of the animal variety instead. There were a couple of warthogs we saw at Woodland Park Zoo. Initially they were rummaging around under cover and not in a good spot for a photo. However, a little patience paid off and soon they moved out into the open. Then we got a good look at them and the chance to really see their faces. They may not be everyone’s favorite but I find them a great looking creature and certainly something you want to treat with some respect!

Hippos are Sociopaths

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A pair of hippos was hanging out in the water of their enclosure in Woodland Park Zoo. One was facing away from us and was submerged for most of the time. The other was facing us and was staring in our direction. The shot I want of a hippo is the large yawn showing off the scary array of teeth that backs up their reputation as one of the most dangerous animals to man. This guy wasn’t obliging. They say that humans have a natural reaction to seeing a yawn from someone of yawning themselves. The people that don’t do this have a higher probability of being sociopaths. I thought I would try it with the hippo. Either it knew I was faking it or hippos are sociopaths. I wonder which it is.

Bears!!

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Bears are cool and brown bears are even cooler. We saw a couple of them at Woodland Park Zoo and, while it was the middle of the day, they were actually pretty active. It didn’t hurt that some food was coming their way so I guess they were incentivized to be a little busy. It was a warm and sunny day so the fact they had some water to work with probably suited them quite nicely. Lots of zoo animals are somehow aware of where they can go to be as difficult to see as possible. These guys were either unaware or just showoffs.

They wandered around the enclosure quite a bit and provided plenty of opportunities to see them. Aside from the outdoor area, there was an indoor viewing space that was against the side of their pool. From within there you could really get a good view of them chomping down on the food that had been thrown their way. They seemed quite content to enjoy the nosh and pay no attention to the hordes staring at them through the glass. Being so close to such a large creature was really very impressive.

Otters on Speed

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Otters are known as being playful. However, having watched a bunch of them at Woodland Park Zoo, I have to think that they are on some serious drugs. The speed with which they flew around the enclosure, wrestled with each other, lay in the water getting blasted by the water jets and generally acted like hooligans, you would think this was a vast waste of precious energy for a creature in the wild. I think they must metabolize something in their food to create something like cocaine or speed. What other reason could there be?