Fun morning at the zoo

On March 14, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals2 Comments

In early December Brett and I made another trip to the zoo. The weather was too nice to be indoors and we had so much fun on our last trip. The gibbons are always a hit at the zoo and the young one was having fun swinging while the parents watched from the ground.

A quick video of the penguins swimming right in front of us.

Brett had never taken the buggy ride and since we were there early we hopped right on. The Marabou storks were walking around and kept stopping in front of the buggy so we were stuck there for a few minutes.

A type of gazelle in the elephant area.

That was one big fat lazy gator. I’m sure he’s popular with kids.

The mallard thought this manatee was just a big floating pillow.

Watching a manatee and mallard eat their breakfast.

The zoo was decorated for the holidays. This certainly said “Florida Christmas”.

The big critters were out playing.

I think I could fall asleep watching these giant tortoises eat their breakfast. It must take them all day.

Fun animals at the zoo

On January 17, 2026February 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, zoo animals4 Comments

We had a brief cold front (meaning high of 75) in late October. Brett and I decided to spend the morning walking at the zoo. We got there right as the macaws were having their fly over. They free-fly from the front of the zoo and circle around the main area before landing on the perch. They were moving so fast it was hard to keep up with them.

The Marabou storks were flirting on the nest. They already had an egg so they must have been celebrating.

Koala bears sleep up to 22 hours a day and it’s rare to catch them awake. This one did a few stretches and a big yawn before going back to sleep.

I guess three’s not a crowd. I was watching this couple flirting and then another parakeet showed up and they all flirted with each other.

The flamingos were waiting to be fed.

At first I thought this yellow billed stork was trying to hear what I was telling him but no, he was just scratching an itch. It’s fun when they come close in the open aviary.

The ducks were using the manatees as a floatation device. The manatee hospital is always busy caring for, rehabilitating and releasing injured manatees.

A quick video of the manatee eating his yummy lettuce.

A turtle pops his head up to give us a look.

Big floating things and other Florida animals

On April 7, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, zoo animals4 Comments

It was a beautiful morning in mid-January when I was at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. The woods were full of fall leaves (we usually go right from fall in early January to summer in mid-March).

It had been really cold for 2 weeks so I was hoping to see some wild manatees near the boardwalk and bridge. As I came around the corner on the trail I saw these big floating potatoes right under the shorter bridge. I took these with my phone since they were so close. They were all huddling together to keep warm. The natural springs here keeps the water warmer than the gulf so in the winter they come in and hang out close to the springs. It’s funny to watch them roll over. Did he want a belly rub?

They were all along the boardwalk as well but some of the areas were tough to get a picture of due to the reflections of the trees.

A Mom and her baby swimming by the dock.

A manatee mosh pit.

Just outside the park you can swim with the manatees. There are volunteer park rangers that patrol the area to make sure the manatees stay safe and no one enters the “manatee only” roped off areas along the river. You can see them from the dock inside the park and this ranger had a manatee come up and inspect his kayak.

You can see the fish in the shallow parts of the river. The water here is so clear.

The park also had some flamingos that are fun to watch, even when they are sleeping.

Red foxes are really shy and this one came out from hiding for just a few seconds.

This is a piebald white tailed deer, a rare genetic mutation causing white patches on otherwise brown fur. They are found mostly in northern Florida and less than 2% of the deer population has this. This one was a baby that was abandoned by his Mom and was brought in here to live safely with other deer. I hated taking a picture through the fence but I’ve never seen one in the wild and she was not moving from the fence even though she had a huge place to roam.

Lu, the former actor in movies and tv shows, turned 65 this month. Yes, Lu is a hippo. He is retired and resides at the park. I couldn’t find any specific named movies or shows he was in but one article noted that he was on the Art Linkletter Show which aired in the early 60’s. You can read about him here.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

One last walk around the zoo

On March 8, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals3 Comments

I made one last trip to Zoo Tampa right before Christmas. My “pay for a day and get the rest of the year free” would run out at the end of the year. I was there early and happened to catch the manatee hospital checking on some patients. They rescue and rehabilitate wild manatees here. Most of the manatees that come in are from boat strikes, cold stress or red tide symptoms. They have 3 pools where the floor raises up so they can treat the manatees without having to take them out of the pools. They were checking on 3 that had just come into the manatee hospital here. One was getting medicine through a tube. It’s really cool to watch but sad that they are here. Several years ago when my sister was visiting we were able to see a manatee release that the zoo did at the Manatee Viewing Center that you can read about here.

Above is a short video of a manatee eating lettuce in the bigger pool that you can look over. It was funny to watch him stuffing the lettuce into his mouth with his flippers.

The baboons are always funny to watch, especially when they flash their heart shaped bottoms.

The siamang were being quiet this morning. They usually are hooting and swinging in the morning.

One of the younger orangutans coming to the front for everyone to “awe” and “ooh” over.

I think that lapwings are one of my favorite birds here with that yellow face and bright pink legs. He was in the aviary that you can walk through and was not shy at all.

Both eagles here have injuries that were sustained in the wild. This one is missing a wing.

I was lucky enough again to see the Florida panther walk over me in the glass walkway. Look at those big paws.

I noticed he was licking his lips and realized he might be thinking I was lunch.

It was a beautiful morning and I was traveling light with only phone.

A Christmas walk at the zoo

On December 21, 2024January 21, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals1 Comment

I have a “pay for a day and come back all year” pass at Zoo Tampa that expires by Christmas. I hadn’t gone all summer since it was so hot but since it has been a fairly cold winter here and I wanted to get a long walk in I made a visit recently. It was fun to walk around and see the Christmas decorations. The weather made it feel a little more like Christmas since it was chilly and not 85 degrees like past holidays. I was traveling light with just my phone.

One of the many fun Christmas trees.

It’s not as much fun seeing flamingos at the zoo when you’ve seen them in the wild.

Above are some of the birds in the large aviary. Most were fluffed up and staying in the sun since it was under 50 degrees.

There were a lot of manatees in the hospital. Here at the zoo they rescue, rehabilitate and release them back out in the wild. The girl in the front was trying to get the two in the front pod to drink some medicine. Behind her was a manatee that was being fed through a tube. He must have still been really sick. Between the hurricanes, red tide and a colder fall than usual, these guys have been really busy.

A manatee comes up for air (on the right) in the big pool. There were two others with him (on the left bottom) and they were all waiting to be fed.

They have recently tripled the size of the Florida panther exhibit and this was the first time I have seen him up on the glass panel that you can walk under. It was weird seeing him up over my head.

Getting a sip.

The colobus monkeys were staying out of the wind and in the sun.

The siamangs are a favorite. When it’s cool outside they swing from the ropes and holler so loud you can hear it across the zoo. I was about to leave and heard them and ran over with everyone else there to see them swing. Above is a quick video that is loud.

I got a good hour walk in and am hoping to get one more walk in here before the end of the year.

A hot walk at the zoo

On September 7, 2024November 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals5 Comments

The last time I was at Zoo Tampa for a walk was the end of May. It’s just been to hot and humid. I saw this cute mallard family in one of the exhibits.

I noticed a great blue heron sitting on a nest over the alligator exhibit and was thinking I wanted to get back to see if there were babies but that didn’t happen.

I couldn’t tell what was going on with the flamingos in the back. I think they were flirting. They create these mud spots to nest on and I think they were working on that.

The manatee hospital at the zoo had 2 patients. They were tube feeding them both medicine. I didn’t want to bother the zookeepers and ask them what was wrong with them. I’m assuming they were sick and stranded themselves and were rescued.

The manatee in the holding pool was sharing his lettuce with some mallards.

All lined up.

A shot of the otter taking a dip.

These primates were so funny to watch. How nice of him to pick the bugs off his friend.

Up close with a manatee

On July 22, 2024September 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, zoo animals9 Comments

You can pay a lot of money and go swimming where the manatees hang out and maybe see them swim by (I have never done it) or you can go to Zoo Tampa and see them really up close without getting wet. Although, I have had one swim within a few feet of me when I was out past the sandbar at Fort Desoto Park. It was feeding time when I visited the zoo in late April. This lady was eating right in front of the window.

The zoo has an amazing manatee hospital. All of these manatees came in as injured or sick ones and the zoo rehabilitates them and releases them once they are better. I saw a release that the zoo did in 2022 and you can read about it here. You can read more about their manatee center here.

It was funny to watch the turtle pick the algae off the manatee.

I got to see the baby pygmy hippo that was not quite a month old.

Now that’s a big lizard!

The red tailed guenons are my favorite primates. They are so animated.

Flamingos on alert.

I walked through the lorikeet aviary and caught these 2 flirting.

A wild baby grackle was looking for bugs but found a leaf.

The wild little blue herons nest in the trees over the alligator exhibit. There were a lot of nests far in the back but only one near the fence. The babies were almost fully grown but not ready to fly yet.

I saw a tricolored heron sitting in the cypress tree across the exhibit.

One tree over I could hear the babies making a loud clacking noise. They were waiting for Mom to regurgitate her food and come over and feed them. They have the craziest looks when they are begging.

Up close with some zoo animals.

On June 22, 2024June 23, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals4 Comments

When my sisters were here in February we went to the zoo one morning. Instead of using a coupon to get in at a lower price, I paid full price for the “pay for the day and come back all year for free” ticket. This is a good place to get in an hour walk. I was traveling light on this morning with only my phone.

It was fun watching the gibbons fly across the ropes.

Hanging out with a yellow billed stork in the aviary.

An otter swims by.

A view of the manatees from up top on the outside observation deck.

A wild Mom mallard and her babies were eating some of the manatee’s lettuce.

I went underneath and saw them through the glass. It’s nice that the underwater viewing area is air conditioned so I stayed a little longer than I should have.

Up close with a puffer.

They had a dinosaur exhibit for a few weeks and since I was there early on a weekday morning I walked through the exhibit. I’m sure there was a line to get through it on the weekends. It made for a fun walk.

Hooting and swimming

On May 11, 2024May 2, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals2 Comments

While both of my sisters were here we went to the zoo on an early Monday morning. It was fairly cool that morning and the siamangs (primates) were out playing.

They were hooting very loudly so turn up the volume and play the video. We could here them across the zoo.

It’s always fun to watch the penguins swimming.

We got up close with this grey crowned crane on the backlot tram tour.

The big guys.

The zoo has an underwater viewing area and you can see the manatees swimming around and eating up close.

Taken from the Zoo Tampa website: The David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center is the first non-profit, acute care facility of its kind specifically dedicated to critical care for wild manatees, and one of just four contracted federally permitted manatee rehabilitation centers in the state of Florida. Since 1991, the manatee care and veterinary team have treated over 400 manatees with more than 230 of those reintroduced into Florida waters.

There were several turtles swimming around in the manatee pools.

In the words of Dory from Finding Nemo – “Just keep swimming”.

Face to face with a dolphin

On May 9, 2024April 30, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, Tampa bay sights, zoo animals8 Comments

Look at that face! It’s not often you get this close up to a dolphin. After our dolphin boat tour my sister and I stopped at the nearby Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter the dolphin who lost his tail (The movie Dolphin Tale was about him and filmed here). They rescue, rehabilitate and house (if needed) permanently injured dolphins, turtles, otters and other sea critters.

This huge turtle had lost his back legs.

This turtle was hit by a boat and lost his ability to submerge properly. He swims around with his butt in the air.

Some of the turtles that are rehabilitating and will be released soon.

A few of the smaller swimmers.

The ladies on the right got to feed the shark that was in the middle. He was obviously a docile shark since he’s fed several times a day.

This is Nicholas and he came right up to the window. He was found as a young baby stranded on Christmas Eve in 2002 and had 3rd degree sunburns on his back. You can still see the scars on his forehead all the way to his fin.