From The Zoo

[SCraig]

Went by the Nashville Zoo for a little while this morning. Here are a few I liked ...

Not a reflection but rather two Meerkats standing sentry duty:

Another candidate for the Ugly Bird Award, a Saddle-Billed Stork:

One of the two Eurasian Lynx on exhibit, the male named Udo:

A pair of Snowy Owls (beautiful birds that my photographs never do justice to):

I included this Clouded Leopard cub, even though it's a lousy photograph due to the shallow depth of field and some sort of weird greenish tint to the fur, to prove a point. This was shot handheld at 300mm and 1/30 second (EXIF data is intact if you want to look at it). I feel it is a good example of just how well VR / IS works in many cases. ISO was 400 and the aperture was wide open at f/5.6. I could have raised the ISO and gotten a much better shot but I just wanted to see what VR would do at a slow shutter speed. VR DOES work, and quite well.

 

[Parker219]

Cool. I really like the lynx.!

 

[Rick58]

I cast my vote for the second cat.
After that would be the first owl, simply due to it's interesting shape.

All around nice set

 

[teacher386]

I love the cat pictures. My 70-200 2.8 doesn't have VR and your post is the perfect example of why I want VR in the future. Very sharp!

 

[DorkSterr]

Number 1 is WOW!

 

[MSnowy]

Nice set!

 

[cgipson1]

Look really good, Scott!

 

[SCraig]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the comments.

The owls are Snowy Owls, and one of the few species who have feathers that cover their feet. They, obviously, prefer cold areas and the feathers help keep their feet warm.

The Lynx is one of a pair of siblings that they have at the zoo. He may be rather small as far as big cats go but his species is very, very strong. The sign by their paddock says that they can take down something up to around 200 pounds. One of his keepers once told me that he tests them every single day. He will sit quietly in his cage and wait for one of them to walk by and then slam himself against the door. One of these days that door is going to open and I would not want to be around when it happens. He is one of my favorite exhibits at the zoo, and I have lots of shots of him. The shot below has always been one of my favorites because it shows the intensity in his eyes. It's not as sharp as I'd like because he was moving toward me when I shot it, but I still like it.

The Clouded Leopard cubs were born at the zoo in March. They had a pair of adults that I adored but I found out today that they have been moved to an "Animal Retirement Center" near Tampa, FL. I hated to hear that but they were both 10 years old.

Clouded Leopards are amazing cats, and one of the few that can climb down a tree head first. Most cats back down a tree, however the Clouded Leopard can turn their ankles sideways so that their claws are able to grip the tree and allow them to actually climb down it. The photo below shows one doing just that although when I took it he had his left rear leg hooked over a tree limb. A few seconds later he went right down the rest of the tree.

 

[Parker219]

Love those eyes too! Very nice.

 

[Rick50]

Yes, I loved the eyes too. Nothing like a zoo animal looking right into the camera.

 

[SCraig]

Thanks guys, and I do agree. I love it when the cats try to stare right through me and they are very good at it. I know they are thinking something along the lines of "I sure wish that damn fence wasn't there" but I still love it.

This one really looks better cropped. I use it for the masthead photograph on my blog, and it's cropped right above his eyes.