It's Zoo Time!

The girls decided last night that they really, really wanted to go to the zoo today.

Well, why not? That's why I renewed our expired zoo membership last week.

So, we loaded up a backpack and headed out.

Got there right as it opened. It was kind of cloudy and not overly hot, perfect!

On a whim, I told the girls we should try heading in the opposite direction we normally go. They were agreeable, so we started where we usually end our visits. I'm so glad we did this because it was like seeing a whole new zoo. There have been exhibits we've passed simply because we were so used to heading to certain ones in a certain order.

One of the exhibits is called Bird World and um, we have never stepped foot into it before today.

Look what we've missed!

(click on any photo to see it larger)

I wish I could remember the name of this...I think it was a wattled carroway. 

This one was called a secretary bird. I think because of the feathers on the back of its head.

Too many times we've simply not enjoyed the flamingos. 

Here a couple of them were pecking at each other. Sort of looked to me like they were playing. (but I'm sure I'm wrong about that.)

Thought this was a nice shot.

In the primate area, one must bang on the drums (hopefully with abandon).

Then switch places and make more music.

I don't recall seeing a mandrill up close like this before. Not a bad shot considering he was behind glass.

We've visited the lorikeets before, but I had to share the vibrant colors in this shot!

This was another exhibit we visited for the first time today. I'm only sorry I wasn't able to capture the beauty of the colors these two had.

Peacocks roam the zoo and oftentimes you'll see the males showing off their feathers.

However today we were lucky to see him showing them off to hopefully attract the peahen.

You can see her on the right side of the feather plumage.

I've never seen them do their thing like this before. On this, the back side, they shake those feathers above the tail area in quite an interesting fashion.

And they sort of curve the feathers in to draw the peahen closer I'm thinking.

It was very neat to see. I was just hoping they wouldn't do the deed.

That would be a little more 'splaining than I really wanted to do today.

LOL

And finally...got to see the giraffes. 

Loved how these two created a neat look for this shot.

Because we have a membership, we don't have to stay all day long.

After a couple of hours the girls were content to head out for the day.

What a lovely morning we enjoyed.