San Diego Zoo Visit 20210302

The baby was pacing around, then finally decided it was time to crash.

The baby went to ground, but did not sleep while we were observing.

This adult was facing away from us allowing us to see the exposed portion of their horns. While they are rounded, I am sure they would do plenty of damage.

We waled past the Hamadryas baboon enclosure and saw one of the younger females combing the grass for bugs.

We traversed the Australian animal enclosure and passed this fellow getting in his daily grooming. Note the big claws and huge, can-opener beak.

While he was grooming, he paid us no attention whatsoever.

A small wallaby was hanging-out in the sun.

Kathleen is a turtle fan so we headed to the reptile enclosures. This is a "radiated" turtle and is characterized by the radiating patterns on the shell.

This lizard was out in the open catching some rays. He has a beautiful green and blue speckled hide.

A large monitor lizard.

An endangered Chinese crocodillian.

This odd beast is a gharial. They are a fish-eating crocodile and native to the Indian sub-continent. Note the bulb at the end of the snout.

There were a ton of turtles in the same enclosure as the gharial. It was feeding time as the keepers had just tossed a bunch of lettuce into the water.

I thought that the gharial would eat the turtles, but they much prefer fish.

This was a huge turtle with a really long neck and a shovel-shaped shell.

Another turtle is visible below the gharial.

The nose bulb, narrow snout and many sharp teeth make the gharial an effective hunter.

This fellow went for a swim and was now headed for parts unknown.

A very large lizard, likely some species of iguana.

This tortoise was drinking from the pond and submerged his whole head. Notice the wet marks on his face.

This very large Galapagos Tortoise was chowing-down on a bale of grass.

Some kind of beaded lizard, napping in the sun.

Near the exit to the zoo we spotted a trio of peacocks. Notice the reflection in his eyes.

That pointed beak would give a nasty bite. I had a long lens on the camera, so I never got close enough to give him a chance. This bird has rather sparse head feathers, possible due to fighting.

His buddy was in a nearby tree and seemed to have a complete set of head feathers.

A few days later we headed out to east San Diego county to a place called Lindo Lake to see what was there. We spotted this Canadian goose standing on one leg and watching me carefully.

Another kind of goose at Lindo Lake; check out the girth on his legs.

We struck up a conversation with an older woman at the lake and she told us that she feeds mackerel to the egrets. The birds can spot her a mile away, possibly by scent, but swarmed her as soon as she started speaking to us. The birds came very close hoping for a handout.

A view of Lindo Lake looking to the east toward the large cliff-face of "El Capitan".

Another bird standing on one leg.

San Diego Zoo Visit, Part 2

Doing tourist things in our hometown.

The Experience