Those amazing folks over at Let’s Be Wild have chosen the subject “Birds of a Feather” as this week’s challenge! Having just spent 4 1/2 hours at the San Diego Zoo with Russel from Russel Ray Photos, along with his partner Jim and my husband Paul, I was able to put together some photos of lovely birds! Not all are from the zoo, though…Let’s go and check out these lovelies and some not so lovely but still amazing birds!
One of the most colorful and beautiful birds that we observed at the zoo is the Mandarin Duck. They are brilliant in color and they are quite a sight to see!
The next really colorful birds are truly amazing! I was able to catch three flamingos lined up in a row napping!
We saw a lot of babies at the zoo, and here is a cute little duckling out for a Friday afternoon swim! This photo is what my friend Penny would call an awww photo!
And the birds were nesting too! Here is a pair of cormorants with mother bird on the nest and father bird standing along her side!
The newest bird at the zoo is the White Pelican. It is such an amazing bird that I will do a post featuring this bird at a future date! Be sure to check out the colors on this “white” bird.
The herons were pretty amazing too! Here is one on the lookout followed by another shot of a different one. The second photo reminds me of a flasher, and that is because of the way it is holding its wings!
I have no idea what type of bird this next one is, but it is looking right at me! I see a lovely regal lady wearing a hat and with the most beautiful eyes. What do you think? Thanks to Russel Ray for identifying the bird below! It is a Harpy Eagle!
Then we came across the condors! They are amazing birds, and I was able to catch this one as he stretched its wings! Check out the fur collar! You might want to double click on this photo to really see the detail in the face!
From the deck of the cruise ship we were on, I was able to catch a pelican as it flew by! This is indeed a lucky shot!
The above photo looks to be a bit grainy but it is actually the air that was really hazy!
The funniest thing I saw was on the deck of the ship in the pool area for the kids. I was lucky to find the deck empty of people and was photographing the seagulls on the deck rails. When I turned around, there were three gulls sitting at the edge of a water slide. Then one jumped in to take a bath! The entire series of photos will be another post, but here is a shot of this bird enjoying its bath!
I hope that you enjoyed these lovely birds! Please look for the link to my post at the LetsBeWild Photo Challenge! Please feel free to leave a comment on their site for me!
I hope that you have an excellent Monday! Thanks for stopping by today!
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Loved all your photos Barb, but particularly loved the photo of you on Russel’s blog. 🙂
He was pretty sneaky! I did not know he was taking a photo of me! I think we were at the elephant enclosure…
It is always interesting to see someone when you have been communicating with them for awhile.
It is indeed!
You have completely overwhelmed me today with such phenomenal photos! Pinned and Tweeted 🙂
Many thanks to you Sharla!
Beautiful shots as always!
Thank you Julia! I am glad that you liked them!
I love that Mandarin Duck. It’s got lovely colours.
It was the most beautiful colored bird that we saw with regard to the way the feathers were on the bird. Such lines delineating the colors!
The duck looks so pretty!
It was beautiful! Thank you for the comment Imelda!
that’s a great post, and wow, you and russel ray/come camp out on your blog enjoyed the zoo together! that’ so great!
the mandarin duck is pretty special, but the three flamingos in a row are nice as well!
z
Thank you Z! The duck is very special, but it was luck to find the flamingos in the row! They must have known I was going to take this photo and posed for me! Every other animal in the zoo started to walk away when I approached!
but of course! i’m sure that a little birdie told them that you were coming, and they practiced day and night to get that precise formation right! z
Wait until you see the rest of the zoo photos! Plus I have those amazing works of art that I found on Catalina! In one particular area they would do well to have you finish off the already finished wall! I love your work Z! But wait until you see the artwork done outside the Catalina Casino, and inside the theatre!
The wild feather on the head of the unknown bird leads me to believe it’s a Harpy Eagle.
You were with us! I did not see the name on that enclosure. It looks to me like an eagle based on the beak!
You have a bird picture that I didn’t get, but I do have lots of Harpy Eagle pictures, which is why I think that’s what it is.
Thank you for helping to identify it! I will change the name on the photo. She sure was a pretty bird!
Excellent photos of the feathered creatures. The Mandarin Duck is absolutely wonderful – such vibrant coloring. The pelican in flight is a great shot as well, and the heron really does look like it is flashing the on-lookers. Thanks for sharing.
As always, beautiful shots, thank you, happy Monday to you ~Scott
Thank you Scott! I hope that today was a good day for you and that your week will be great too!