Birds from the San Diego Zoo -- Part 4

There were a ton of aviaries within the three parks we visited (San Diego Zoo, The San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park, and Sea World), which made for some great opportunities to photograph birds up close.


It felt like there were flamingos (both African and Caribbean) everywhere, and it was hard to pick just one shot to include.


This spoonbill was in the first exhibit we visited (of course it would be an aviary if I'm leading the way!) and you can see the sparkle of the early morning light in its eye.


I'm not sure what kind of bird this is, but I love that beautiful teal color


The penguin exhibit at SeaWorld was really cool -- they had both Emperor penguins (pictured) and King penguins, which are the two largest species.


If you enjoyed these images, please view more of my bird photographs in my Birds Galleries.

Out of Africa -- San Diego Zoo, Part 3

Another post in my San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park series from our December trip there. To try to have some logical grouping of the photos I wanted to share, I've picked a handful of species that come from the African continent.

We took the tram tour through the Wild Animal Park, which was themed to be the African plains, and was quite nice, although its not included in the general admission price, and is the only way to see a large part of the park. We got to see a variety of antelope, the only species of African deer, multiple rhino species, as well as this sleepy young giraffe.


When I was young, warthogs were one of my favorite animals (which my mom still laughs about), but as I've gotten older, I think the Red River Hog has replaced them on my list. These guys are just a bit more charismatic, and you have to love that gorgeous color.


The hippo exhibit was really great with the large underwater viewing area. The first time we stopped by, the hippo pair was on its way out of the water and went into the back where you couldn't really see them. We were disappointed and decided to come back later -- and we just happened to pick the perfect time to do so, as it was just when they were coming back into the water. This male took a lap around the tank then came over to check me out eye-to-eye (photo by my wife).


This cute little klipspringer was in the African Kopje (Rock Outcrop) exhibit. They had really interesting hooves that looked as if they stood on their tip toes. I suspect it was to help it keep its grip on its world of jumping between rocks. It rained a lot while we were in the park, but this is one of the few shots where I brought the camera out -- and I liked how the drops showed up with the longer shutter speeds.


Here's another zebra shot, since they put on a nice show for us

Wild hummingbird at San Diego Zoo

There was a surprising amount of wild birds spending time in the zoo. We saw beautiful hummingbirds like these all over the place, running from flower to flower, as well as a ton of egrets and herons in all of the ponds. I used to think it was special to get to see a night heron up close, but after this trip, I'm pretty used to them!



It was overcast with occasional rain showers while we were at the zoo, which meant I was shooting wide open and still had fairly long shutter speeds. I think in the end, it made these shots a little interesting with just the impression of those incredible fast wings.