Tag Archives: Zoo

What Animals Are in Your Local Park?

With a lovely spring weekend day, the city provides a lot of opportunities to hang out and enjoy yourself.  One of these is Lincoln Park.  Not a long walk from us but certainly a quicker bus ride gets you to the park.  It is amazing how quickly the spring transformation is underway.  The trees are rapidly filling out with leaves and the wildlife is also making itself obvious.  There are certainly worse places to be on a weekend.

If you want to ramp up the wildlife, the park also has the zoo which is free to visit.  It had been a while since we went there so we decided to take a look around.  Since you can wander in and out at will, you don’t always end up looking at everything and this time was no exception.  We did visit the big apes which is always a great experience.  Taking in the bats was something I hadn’t done for a while as well.

We could have looked at more but I had a strong urge to find some lunch so instead we went exploring of a different kind.  Maybe not as difficult as living in the wild but the results were certainly good.

Winter Zoo Time

A sunny winter weekend is often a good chance to check out the zoo.  Since a lot of the animals are not fond of winter weather, there are only a few that will be outside at this time of year.  Consequently, the zoo doesn’t charge for entry so it is good for those after a cheap day out.  We are members anyway so it doesn’t make a difference to us but it is good to go anyway.

During our previous visit the Snow Leopards had been pretty active.  We were hoping to see them again – they aren’t too bothered by the cold – but we also wanted to see what else was about.  Since you aren’t paying, you can make a short visit without feeling like you should make a full day out of the admission price.  As it happened, the Snow Leopards were soundly asleep while we were there but there were other things to see.

The Tiger was showing more action that is normally the case.  This is one cat that likes to sleep.  However, we timed our arrival well and saw a fair bit of movement.  Tigers are also fine with the cold of course.  Bears are similar.  Both Polar Bears were about and one of the Brown Bears was wandering around its enclosure.

We also saw a few birds wandering around the place.  The Pelicans were out near one of the ponds and another group of birds (I am thinking Guinea Fowl but you can correct me if I am wrong) were also strutting around.  The light was very nice so not a bad afternoon.

 

More Young Wildlife

We took a trip to Brookfield Zoo to see the young snow leopards.  However, we also were aware that there had been some other new arrivals at the zoo since we had last visited.  One of these was a baby White Cheeked Gibbon.  After visiting the leopards, we headed for the large primate building to see how the new arrival was doing.

Shooting in the primate house is tricky since the light is not always great.  I also hadn’t planned for this so didn’t have a flash with me.  After the cold outside, the warm and humid building also made for a lot of steaming up of the gear so we spent a lot of time just looking around while everything cleared up.  The baby was certainly pretty cute.  Mum was taking good care of him while some of the other gibbons seemed to be a bit annoyed about the lack of attention they were getting.  This could involve trying to poke the baby.  However, Mum was up to the task of fending off any unwanted attention!

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

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

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.

Aww, so cute!

When looking for a possible short getaway trip, all you need is something to trigger the choice of destination.  How about the birth of a baby elephant (as opposed to a full grown elephant being born!).  Indianapolis Zoo has recently put on display its latest addition to the elephants, a baby called Kalina.  She is still very young and causing quite a level of interest.

So, couple of days in Indy for us then?  Absolutely.  I hadn’t been to Indianapolis itself before.  I had driven through a couple of times and visited friends in one of the northern suburbs but downtown Indy was a new one for me.  Turns out it is really quite a nice spot.  More on the city in another post though.

This is about a baby elephant and so I will cut to the chase.  Kalina is very cute.  She makes a couple of appearances each day and there are plenty of people wanting to see her.  Whether this is noticed by the animals, I don’t know but I did see a neighboring cheetah eying the events closely.  Of course, he could just have been taking a look at a tasty young animal waiting to be felled!

Just like lots of young, Kalina is full of energy and exploration.  She runs around a lot, a little away from mum sometimes but never too far.  A regular run back to nurse can be expected.  She really is quite tiny for an elephant but still a lot larger than most of us.  It was interesting to see her hanging out with the keepers sitting nearby.  Mum didn’t seem bothered either.

Anyway, enough of the chat, here’s the last of the pictures.

Zoo Time

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!