Wild zoo babies

On July 19, 2017July 19, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

An almost grown great egret scratching. This one must be one of the first ones born at the zoo this spring. He still had just a little bit of baby fuzz on his head.

Very young little blue herons were waiting to be fed.

Baby little blue herons that were a little older but not yet flying. They were in lots of different stages of growing up.

Screaming “Feed Me” in Mom’s ear.

Two baby great egrets still on the nest waiting for a parent to fly in with food.

My favorite part of Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa is the bird rookery at the alligator exhibit. It’s much smaller than the one at Gatorland but it’s close to home. The wild birds come in and nest right in front of the exhibit. While all of the kids are oohing and aahing over the alligators I am busy trying to get shots of the baby birds.

Linking to Wednesday Around The World.

Wild and resident animals at the zoo

On May 10, 2017April 14, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

The trees are full of wild ibis all over the zoo.

The wild blue herons and tricolored herons were just starting to build their nests over the alligator exhibit.

A zoo resident stork was sitting on a nest. By nature, she’s covered in flies. When she moved, they would buzz around.

A resident flamingo splashing around.

Two “head banger” birds in the aviary.

Up close with manatees at the manatee hospital pool there. These are all injured manatees that are in rehab at the zoo. Most of them get released when they recover. (taken through the glass with my phone).

Fun at the Lowry Park Zoo in late March.

Everyone loves a baby

On March 15, 2017February 23, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals2 Comments

I went back to Lowry Park zoo to get another look at the baby tiger. I got there as soon as the zoo opened and the cub was just coming out to play. It was a cool morning and mom and baby were running all over the place playing. The baby was very interested in the pile of leaves. I stayed for a while watching kids go crazy over seeing the tigers running around.

Funny “Bird” faces at the zoo.

On February 22, 2016February 23, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

Inca tern in the aviary.

Blue bellied roller in the aviary.

Crazy lorikeets in the lorikeet feeding aviary.

A hooded merganser hanging around the manatee exhibit. I’m not sure if he is part of the zoo. I didn’t see a band on him.

The marabou stork couple flirting on the nest.

I was looking around up in the trees to see if any of the wild birds are nesting yet and saw this barred owl high up in the pine trees.

More pictures from my recent trip to the Lowry Park zoo.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing

“Anyone got any toilet paper?!?”

On February 20, 2016February 20, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals6 Comments

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Usually the chimps are snoozing in the back so I don’t pay too much attention but as I was walking by I saw this. It was just too funny not to stop.

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It was even funnier because there was a little baby right underneath one of the chimps. It looks like the baby got sat on but he wiggled out from underneath.

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The older chimp is still sucking his thumb.

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But the baby stole the show.

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He was so cute. Everyone was admiring the little one.

At the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa.

Saturday's Critters

Another “Funny Faces at the Zoo” post

On February 8, 2016February 9, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals9 Comments

I always see red bellied woodpeckers up in the trees at the zoo.

Everyone loves the little meerkat “clowns”.

The marabou stork is back on the nest. Last spring she had 2 babies. She doesn’t look too happy about having to sit there for weeks.

The front of an Okapi.

The back of an Okapi.

“There’s a piece straw hanging in front of my eye. Maybe I can reach it with my tongue” says the giraffe.

A hooded merganser snoozing over the manatee pool.

Injured manatees recouping at the zoo manatee hospital.

He seemed so serious in the first picture so I asked him to smile.

A few funny things at Lowry Park zoo.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing

Best friends playing.

On February 6, 2016January 22, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals3 Comments

Mpumi is 3 years old and Mavi is 2 and a half years old. They have different mothers but Dad is the same.

I was there a few days before Christmas one morning and was able to watch them play for a while. Both babies were running around and playing. Everyone was having so much fun watching them.

The impalas have free run of the elephant exhibit and for the first time I noticed that one of them was missing a foot. Asked one of the volunteers about it and she said that she was born without it and has not had any problems. She was running around with the other impalas.

A surprise during Christmas week

On January 16, 2016January 16, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals8 Comments

My sister and I made a stop at the Lowry Park Zoo while she was visiting from South Dakota. When we got to the primate section, there was a zoo employee with a long lens taking pictures of an orangutan in the back of the exhibit. It’s not often you see employees out with a big camera taking pictures of the animals so I took a closer look and realized she was holding something. Is that a head tucked under her arm???

The head finally moved and it was a baby! The baby orangutan was born 2 days earlier on 12/20. It was amazing to see the mother holding the baby like that.

This was the mother’s fourth baby so she is an expert. One of the siblings came over to check things out.

It was amazing to watch the baby climb around on Mom.

The baby started nursed for a while. This was a great treat to see the newborn baby the week of Christmas. Orangutans are endangered due to loss of habitat from palm oil plantations. You can read more about the family and the baby’s birth at Lowry Park Zoo here.

Saturday's Critters

Wild baby birds at the zoo

On July 15, 2015July 5, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Baby little blue herons at various ages.

Above are almost grown tricolored herons.

A snowy egret was watching her eggs. They had not hatched yet.

Baby house sparrows were being fed. The nest was high up in the roof of the ticket booth. I heard the babies chirping as I walked in and stopped to snap the above.

Besides the usual animals you see at the zoo, you can usually find wild baby birds growing up in the spring at Lowry Park Zoo. I found all of these in late May.

A face only a Mother could love

On May 13, 2015May 5, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Not the most attractive bird at the Lowry Park zoo, the Marabou stork is one of the funniest looking. They get a lot of attention as people walk by and comment on them. This is the 3rd year I’ve seen Marabou babies in this spot, right next to the zebras and giraffes. There are two babies this year. One is much bigger than the other and was easier to get pictures of him. Mom was feeding them some breakfast. This was late March so by now they are probably all grown up. It’s always fun to see the babies at the zoo.