Funny faces at the farm.

On April 28, 2020April 28, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals5 Comments

Right before everything closed I stopped by Horsepower for Kids, the non-profit rescue farm to walk around and just be outside. The weather was still cool. They strictly rely on donations and admission fees to feed the animals and now that they are closed they are hurting for funds.

The turtles in the pond were coming up on the bank to sun themselves.

Funny faces staring back at me.

A capybara taking a dip. These guys are from South American and this one was a pet that someone realized they didn’t want after all and gave up to the farm.

Nice morning at the zoo

On April 7, 2020April 7, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals2 Comments

Fun animals at Zoo Tampa in late February. The weather was cool so many of the animals were moving around. This was the first time in a long time I’ve seen the bears playing together.

The eagle was stretching and you can see he has part of his wing missing. He was injured out in the wild and lives at the zoo now. The other eagle was sitting high up in the tree looking over the zoo.

The lorikeets were all flirting and preening.

I can’t go to the zoo and not take a ton of manatee pictures.

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Quick walk at the zoo

On March 21, 2020February 28, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals2 Comments

I rarely see these guys moving around.

The koala bears are so cute but the glare on window makes it impossible to get a decent picture of them.

The elephants were eating.

It’s rare to see the otters close to the glass but this one was right in front.

The rhino pausing at the pool.

More up close with the manatees. I always take a ton of pictures when I’m there.

I recently hurt my shoulder (tendonitis) and was hurting one weekend but I still wanted to get out for a walk so I went over to the zoo with only my phone. I had a fun morning running around without all of my camera stuff.

Up close with some beauties.

On March 14, 2020February 27, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals1 Comment

Spoonbills going about their day in the big aviary at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park.

A few other birds in the aviary includes a little blue heron and green herons.

More from MOTE Aquarium

On January 28, 2020January 28, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, zoo animals1 Comment

It’s not often you get this close to a shark. Above are some of the bigger things under water at MOTE Aquarium in Sarasota.

The Aquarium rehabilitates and houses permanently injured turtles, manatees and dolphins. The turtle above was missing an eye.

We don’t have crocodiles in the Tampa Bay area, at least not yet. They can be found in areas much farther south including the Everglades. I’ve never seen one out in wild. They look very comical, almost like a cartoon.

Pretty flowers in the water at aquarium.

Hanging with the spoonies

On November 26, 2019November 26, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals5 Comments

The roseate spoonbills that live at the Florida Aquarium have a big aviary to hang out in. Early in the morning if you get there when they first open, the spoonbills usually hang out right up front, at the edge of the water in the exhibit. It was quiet and they were running around feeding and squabbling over the best spots. As the aquarium gets busy the spoonbills fly up in the trees and nap. It’s cool to see these beautiful birds up close.

Big things swimming by.

On November 12, 2019November 12, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals3 Comments

I love seeing the big sting rays at the aquarium. It’s funny how they have faces underneath. I think that first one was smiling at me.

It’s fun to watch the kids go crazy over the sharks. You get to see them close up.

A turtle cruising by.

There’s something hypnotic about watching the fish swim by.

More fun from my September visit to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.

Zoo Tampa in early June

On July 30, 2019July 30, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, zoo animals4 Comments

Fun at the zoo in early June. The manatees are back at the zoo which is good and bad thing. The zoo has been updating their water system in the manatee hospital so any injured manatees had to go to Homosassa Springs for rehabilitation for 6 months. Now that the manatee hospital is updated they can take in injured manatees. The bad thing is that the manatees have to be here at all. It’s great that visitors can see these big guys up close and that the zoo treats them but it’s sad that so many are injured due to boat strikes or sick from red tide.

On top of the manatee pool, a few juvenile blue herons are learning how to catch their own fish. These were all probably born in the nests over the alligator exhibit next door.

Vultures were drying off in the bear exhibit. They do this in the morning to easily warm their body up. Not sure why, it was already 85 degrees at 10am. The bear eventually came over to check them out. The vultures didn’t fly off but just moved over. They didn’t seem to scared of the bear.

The last of the wild baby blue heron birds that were growing up over the alligator exhibit.

Photographing New Zealand

Yoga at the zoo

On February 9, 2019January 19, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals1 Comment

The week before Christmas I attended yoga at Zoo Tampa. It was on an early Saturday morning. The weather was perfect. They had a few animals show up before we started. There was a goat but he took off before I could get a picture. Santa also showed up for a visit.

My new yoga buddy.

The view from my yoga mat.

After yoga I walked around the zoo for a while.

Winter at the zoo

On January 19, 2019January 5, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animalsLeave a comment

The baby primates are growing up quickly, out playing on their own.

I caught the youngest elephants playing a while before they noticed someone else was watching them. It was great to see them running around, playing together.