rainy day trip to S.A. Zoo

[sandboa]

I had planned to spend this weekend out looking for reptiles and amphibians but the cold front pretty much put an end to that idea. So I opted for the next best thing - a day at the zoo...

It was cold and rainy and there were hardly any people there, which is very odd for a Saturday. Because of the weather, I spent most of my time indoors in the aquarium, the reptile house, and the bird house.

Here's some pics

I've never been able to get a decent photo of a lungfish. Today, I finally got a keeper.



Also in the aquarium building were the new Orinoco Crocodiles (Crocodylus intermedius). Unfortunately, the incandescent heat lamp gave a color cast to one of the animals back.



Also new on display was this African Rock Python (Python sebae) -




A few of the regulars were posing well, like this Broad-banded Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus) -



Took a few birds as well. Here's a European Eagle Owl -



and a Blue-gray Tanager -



When I walked through the noctural house, I noticed that the lights were on in the bat enclosure for feeding. I took the opportunity to take a few flash shots (which I won't do if the lights are off). Mostly junk shots, but I did catch a couple of flying Short-tailed Bats (Carollia perspicillata).



Not a bad way to spend a cold rainy saturday.

All shots with
Konica Minolta 7D
KM 300 f/4 G, KM 28-75 D, or Tamron 90mm Di Macro
flash shots with KM 5600 HS-D flash
tripod on most shots

[golden11]

Cool shots!

[Aggie04]

WHAT!!! I didn't see the lungfish when I was there! My brother (Boracho) and I went to the SA Zoo several weeks ago.

Great pictures! I love the Copperhead picture.

Did you make it to the Lory Landing? As you can see from my Avatar that they are VERY friendly!

There are some great photo-ops in the Butterfly house as well.

[Roy]

Good job Chris! The lung fish is real nice and I happen to like the color cast in #2. Looks like a little glare on the owl but I see no glare on any of the others. I know that bat shot had to be a challenge even with the light's on.

[ttusa]

Very Interesting!

[Janice_d]

Very Nice pics..CHRIS.. thanks for sharing!!!

[sandboa]

Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone.

Originally Posted by Roy

Looks like a little glare on the owl but I see no glare on any of the others. I know that bat shot had to be a challenge even with the light's on.

Actually, the owl was the only outdoors shot. That white haziness is the OOF wire of the cage. I couldn't get any closer to the cage without crossing the guest barrier.

[MRCPix]

I like the bat you don't see many pictures of bats. Great capture.

[snidow]

Nice shots, I like the owl and all too well understand the fence glare. The in flight bat is nice too.

[Jim Victory]

Nice series Chris!

Excellent job dealing with visual barriers and WB.