Happy pre-Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! There’s a new animal at the Sacramento Zoo: meet the White Rhinoceros. That’s his keeper behind the fence. She just kept feeding him. I wonder how much he eats in a day! He’s a big guy!
An orangutan was enjoying a snack of romaine lettuce.
The alligator was patiently waiting.
This meercat was the lookout guard at the top of the small mountain.
This raven (I think) caught its meal.
One of the cheetahs posed for me.
The flamingos are back. They are being housed in the former enclosure of the chimpanzees after they were sent to different zoos that had more space for them in a jungle like enclosure. The flamingos are still kept in a glass enclosure because of the avian flu.
What was this zebra trying to tell me?
These are the changes at the zoo. They are planning a move to Elk Grove in a much better location with more space for more animals. It will take about 4 to 5 years. So stay tuned.
One lesson learned: Be careful what you challenge others to do! Recently on a Lens Artists Challenge, I encouraged participants to take a photo walk with only one lens. If that lens was a zoom lens, I suggested that they pick a millimeter setting and leave it there. Last Thursday Ray and I went to the Sacramento Zoo and I accidently put my 80 mm fixed macro lens on my camera instead of the 55 – 200 mm I usually take inside.
I didn’t notice my mistake until I started taking pictures. I decided to stay with the lens and see what how it performed. Fortunately, the zoo has put glass in some enclosures, because the lens had a difficult time eliminating fencing.
The panda was the most difficult and far away. When I was taking its picture, I couldn’t see what it was actually doing. I thought the pictures were incredible. Here are three. They are cropped in a lot.
Got an itch?Scratch it!
I’m trying to learn patience and the zebra proved that patience pays off. It was eating and then looked up. It also walked away from the food trough and proceeded to do a little tap dance!
There’s a new baby giraffe at the zoo, but she and mom were not out yet. But the macro lens did well with the others.
No, don’t stick your tongue out at me!
The jaguar was eating its bone (Thursday is bone day for the big cats.). Fortunately it was close to the glass so I could get these images.
Now for the lion. He just finished his bone and I think he’s telling us it’s tongue licking good.
I kept walking back to the orangutan enclosure, but they weren’t showing off. The only one out there just wanted a head of lettuce and was headed back inside.
So, this was my one-lens walk. It took some extra walking on my part, but I learned more about my lens and had fun!
This week, guest host John of John’s Space has challenged us to post images of humor. It’s not that I don’t have a sense of humor–I do but it’s mostly sarcastic. So do I usually take humorous photos? No, but I do find some situations funny, especially at the Sacramento Zoo. If you go to a zoo enough, you’ll find the animals either look funny or are in funny situations. The following are examples.
I’ll end with the giraffes. They have such expressive faces.
What are you smoking?Please eat with your mouth closed.That’s some tongue.
Thank you John for helping us find some smiles in today’s tense world. As you answer this challenge, remember to link to his post and tag Lens-Artists. And thank you everyone for joining in on last week’s colorful challenge. I enjoyed seeing and reading all your responses. Next week Tina will lead our challenge. Be sure to stay tuned.
When you can’t have something, you realize how much you enjoyed it. Like when you’re on a diet! That’s when you want to eat all the fattening foods. When they shut down the zoo because of COVID 19, no one anticipated it would be so long before they could reopen. Actually no one realized the severity of this pandemic.
Our zoo is open again, but with many restrictions in place. In order to get into the zoo, you must get your ticket online. As members, Marlene and I decided to take advantage of the 2-day member trial. They asked members to do a run through on getting tickets online and coming at the appointed time. Since Marlene and I have single memberships, we had to go online separately to secure our spot. I first got a 11:30 a.m. slot; then Marlene got a 1 p.m. slot, so I went back and got a 1:30 p.m. time slot. I gave up the 11:30 a.m. ticket. Only a certain number of people were allowed in during each time slot.
Marlene entered at 1 p.m. and I called her when I got in. It worked out okay. We wore our masks (as suggested by zoo protocol) and enjoyed the lack of crowds. I was amazed that animals usually at sleep in the morning were active in the afternoon. For instance, I’ve never been able to see the red panda awake.
And the zebras were doing more than just eating. This one had an itch that needed scratching!
It was a nice cool morning with a slight wind. The flamingos were arguing and feathers were flying in the breeze.
The two black crowned cranes were showing off. They are beautiful.
And the orangutans were out. This one was where we could photograph him. Was he picking his nose??
We had a fun couple of hours. That’s why I love this zoo. It’s small and easy to get through. I’m thinking that they are going to continue admitting guests to the zoo online through the life of the pandemic. Maybe they’ll come up with a way of admitting groups of a certain amount at the same time. That would make it easier for my camera group to get in!
Slow Shutter Speed 