Do You Do the Flamingo?

No, that is not an error in the title of this blog! And, there is actually no dancing involved, OK, maybe one dance shot! This post will feature some amazing shots I was lucky to get of Flamingos at the San Diego Zoo! It was our first stop when we went with Russel of Russel Ray Photos! Again, thank you Russel and Jim for such a lovely day!

What was really cool about seeing these lovely, colorful birds, was that they were nesting or preparing their nests…So, without further ado, I hope that you love these photos of this lovely bird!

So, do you do the flamingo? Here is one doing that lovely dance!

Let’s Dance!

And, let’s sing!

A duet!

These lovely birds mostly breed in the Galapagos, Columbia and Venezuela, and some lesser known places. And, they breed at the San Diego Zoo too! Here are a couple of shots that we were lucky to witness of these birds nesting!

Nesting

More of the nesting birds

Periodically they take a break to snooze.

Resting bird

Or they converse with one another about the work being done.

Having a conversation

When they raise their heads, they have lovely profiles. Don’t you agree?

A lovely profile

And they often look at the visitors and I swear I could hear this one asking a question!

Are you looking at me?

It is their feathers that are so incredible what with all their color and patterns!

Beautiful feathers!

Flamingo feather patterns

They also stop often to do a bit of housecleaning!

House cleaning

Did you like this series of photos? I would love to hear from you!

Now go and have a great Wednesday, and, again, thank you for stopping by!

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Other Zoo Views – Part II

For this second series of photos…well, let’s see where the San Diego Zoo takes us, shall we?

Now, I need to let you know that I love cats! Small, big, and bigger! Check these lovelies out! We happened upon the leopard enclosure at dinner time…One of the big cats was vocal, which this photo shows of this big cat talking!

Are you listening to me?

And this next photo, feeling that all of the creatures on this earth should never be caged, can’t you hear what I heard as I looked at this beauty?

Wishing there were no bars…

Royalty exists at the zoo. Can you just picture the crown on this cutie pie?

Such a regal face!

And, Santa’s reindeer are there too!

Santa’s Reindeer

Right behind those lovely reindeer, comes this amazing creature! There was a baby, but even with a docent there, they could not clear the way for good photos! However, this is still a good shot! Check out the eyes…

Cute and Adorable!

You know that I love textures and patterns…Now you might have a fear of snakes, but the skin on this snake is pure beauty!

Beautiful skin!

Right behind the snakes was this lovely tarantula! If you have a fear of spiders…you are warned!

One heck of a huge spider!

Now for cute and cuddly looking…

The Wild Boar!

And for the more cuddly than this one…here is an “Awww” photo!

The Koala

One final shot was a lovely bird, who will be featured in another post, with glorious colors and a huge beak!

Pretty bird!

I hope that you enjoyed this post! Stay tuned for a post on the White Pelican, who is not only regal but a beauty too!

Thanks for stopping by and see you later!

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Pretty Feet Contest Winner 2013!

I just know that you are dying to know who won this contest! Are you ready for the results?

In third place, with the most beautiful toenails…

The Elephant

In second place, with dainty feet for such a big girl…

The Lioness

And number one…

The Zebra!

Many thanks to all who voted for me!

Thanks for participating, and for stopping by today! Stay tuned for Part II of the San Diego Zoo!

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Other Zoo Views – Part I

I wanted to take today to share with you some other photos that I took at the San Diego Zoo. There was so much to see, and I took so many photos…where do I begin? Shall we walk through the zoo together?

Do you remember the movie “The Lion King?” Well, I was able to capture some photos of some of the cast. Let’s start with that cute Meerkat who was named Timon…

Timon

And the Warthog was named Pummba, remember?

Pumbaa!

Then there were the three hyenas. Laughing little fellows! Check this one out!

That was very funny!

OK, aside from “The Lion King” characters there were some pretty cool animals. One of the most striking things was one of the first sights: It was a dog who was best buddies with a cat. Not just any cat, but a Cheetah!

An unlikely friendship

Did you know that there really is a Cheshire Cat? No, really there is! While I did not catch it smiling I did capture its tail!

The Cheshire Cat

Some of the faces of the creatures that we saw were very expressive. See what you think.

Are you looking at me?

You smell funny!

What’s doing?

Others are a bit more laid back.

No chance of getting cold with all this fur!

Nap time!

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I took a lot of photos! So, stay tuned for Part II!

Thanks for the visit today! I hope your day has been excellent!

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Escape to… A WordPress Photo Challenge!

Escape can mean many things, and this is the subject of this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge! One can escape from the tedium of every day life, or escape can be just a release, or to get away from danger. For this week’s challenge let’s escape to…

One of my favorite ways to escape is to go on a fishing trip! I sure wish I was on this boat!

Gone fishing!

Sometimes one needs a break from day to day life. What could be better than a friend calling and saying, “Hey, let’s go fly somewhere shall we?”

Getting away for a while

How would you like to have your own private island to escape to?

A place to escape to

Sometimes one just needs a change of scenery, so they escape the confines of one area and head out to another!

Heading out

When we look around us the earth shows us the release of pressure. This results in steam escaping the earth…

Steam escapes the earth

Pressure can cause other things to escape, like the juice of grapes going through a press.

Juices escapes the press

In my own backyard, escape can be getting away from danger.

Running from danger

Where do you like to escape to? Checking out some of the other posts on this topic, check these escapes out!

Through My Lens
Bob’s Wife
Hope the Happy Hugger
Rolbos
Progress by Accident

Or you can check out other posts by clicking here!

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope that you enjoyed this post!

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Flowers at the Zoo

At the San Diego Zoo, not only is there an amazing array of animals and trees, but flowers too! They filled every available corner of the zoo. I am unsure of the names of most of these, but I still wanted to share these anyway. Are you ready to check them out? Let’s go!

In the area where I photographed the Mandarin Duck, there was this tree that was just glorious with its shades of pink, yellow and orange.

In the pink!

Birds of Paradise were everywhere!

Bird of Paradise

This water lily was most striking!

Water lily

There were some pretty unusual flowers too! This next shot reminds me of a brush.

Brush like

We came across a tree that had orchid-like flowers.

Clusters of lavender and red

Here are flowers that remind me of fried eggs! I do know that this is a California native.

Fried eggs

Then we came upon an odd looking, hairy and sticky flower!

Odd and sticky too!

Spiky flowers were everywhere, and here are two different varieties.

Splash of orange

Spidery

This last photo is of a shrub that I have seen in Arizona. It has no leaves and is topped by an amazing red flower.

Vibrant red

I hope that you have enjoyed these photos! Have a wonderful Wednesday, and thank you for stopping by today!

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Barking at the Zoo!

As you might have figured out by now, I love the textures and patterns that can be found in tree bark. The San Diego Zoo has an unusual array of shrubs, trees and flowers. So for today, I thought that I would share with you some of the amazing bark that I captured while visiting the zoo! Shall we take a look?

Let’s start with the amazing bark on the Sycamore tree. I love the contrasts that can be found on this tree’s bark.

Sycamore

The Eucalyptus is best known for its peeling bark, each shred showing off the inner beauty found at its core!

Eucalyptus Bark

Another shot!

After visiting the elephants we came across this tree. I am not sure what the name of it is, but I can say that this tree was definitely looking at me! It kind of looks like an owl doesn’t it?

Eye see you!

I also came across a tree with a lovely rust colored bark. There was an interesting knob on this tree that caught my eye!

Knobby

Then I found this one that actually had spines!

Spiky bark

Tree barks are mostly shades of brown, gray and rusts. But I did find this one with a green colored bark!

Green

Stay tuned for some of the amazing flowers I discovered at the zoo! Now go out and have a great Monday and may the week be a good one for you! And, of course, thank you for stopping by!

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A Kiss for Mother’s Day!

Who does not love a big, huge kiss from their sweetheart? Of course, it does depend on who the kiss comes from, don’t you think? Well, I got to witness one big kiss that totally tickled my heart. Maybe it will tickle yours too!

Where did I witness this kiss? At the San Diego Zoo! The kissers? The Rhinoceros! So before we get to the kiss, how about we check out the two that reside at the zoo? While this is not my favorite animal…it does come close to the elephant!

Now the two Rhino’s were in different enclosures. One was enjoying the water, and the other was getting face scratches from a docent. When the one in the water stood up, this was my first view of it!

My first view of the Rhino

Here is the other one getting face scratches. Notice there is a fellow right behind the head as you can see his leg just behind the Rhino’s leg and the top of his hat behind the right ear! If Rhino’s could purr, this one was!

Face scratches

The one in the water decided to play with a ball that was just at the edge of its pool.

Playing!

The other Rhino, having been satisfied with its face scratching decided to lie down.

Do I look enticing?

We notice that the other Rhino, the one in the pool, decides it has had enough with the water and starts to move out.

Coming out of the pool and heading towards…

Sauntering gracefully, it heads towards the other Rhino. Reaching the gates on the enclosure it leans its head down. The other Rhino raises its head. And through the gate they share a kiss!

The Kiss!

I feel very fortunate to have captured this special moment!

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mom’s! May your day be truly special! And, thank you for spending a bit of time with me today!

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The Beauty of a Gull

While on our cruise recently, each time we came into a port, the ship was visited by a variety of seagulls. They were pretty much looking for something to eat, and while most folks ignored them I had some pretty amazing conversations with them! They were hams when asked if they would mind being photographed. So, today I will be sharing with you some of those moments spent with these lovely birds. See if you can see what they are saying!

So, what do you make of the conversations?

I hope that you have enjoyed today’s post! Thank you for stopping by today! Have a great Saturday!

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Patterns – A WordPress Photo Challenge!

This week’s WordPress Photo Challenge subject are patterns. On our recent cruise, I was able to get a number of amazing photos, including patterns! Maybe I was psychic that WP would pick this subject? Or, could it be that this is something I always look for when taking photos? I love patterns, and have taken photos of patterns for years. So this is a mixture of two different types of patterns. One: Man-made; the other found in nature!

Without further ado, if it’s patterns you want, it’s patterns you get!

Lines of color

Rectangles

Stacked lounge chairs

Reflections

Tile

A spider web

Spiral staircase

Barrel cactus

I hope that you not only enjoyed the patterns but the contrasts between man-made and nature!

Please do check out some of the other posts for this challenge…you can get there by clicking here!

Thank you for stopping by today, and have a great Friday!

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