What a Great Day at the Oregon Zoo!

June 23, 2005 – 8:58 pm

Codi and I spent quite a few hours at the Portland Zoo today. (Officially, it’s called the Oregon Zoo, but I prefer “Portland Zoo”.) We got a zoo membership, which allows us to go to the zoo as many times per year as we want, and we can even bring a free guest each time! What a great deal!

Codi likes the lorikeets. We bring them a sugar water mix so they’re more curious and friendly.

Even though the lorikeets are relatively tame, if you give them the impression that their sugar water is going to be taken away, they’ll bite. I got bitten twice today. Luckily it doesn’t hurt.

There are several bald eagles at the “Oregon” Zoo. (I still prefer ‘Portland Zoo’.) This bald eagle was about 20 feet from us in a huge aviary. It’s sort of odd being in an aviary with bald eagles. There’s no barrier between them and us, so if one got spooked, or if some idiot tourist brought a hotdog with him, whoa… At the same time, it’s a great feeling to be so close to something so great and majestic.

This is a funny beaver that was following people and scratching at the glass with his claws. Check out his teeth! They’re the color of Cheetos!!

This black and yellow butterfly was really neat. It’s interesting to see them fly around - they’re so light on the air and they hardly have to move to keep adrift.

This butterfly was feeding inside a flower. I like the muted black against the hot pink.

I caught this butterfly landing on a flower cluster.

Here’s another similar butterfly. Check out his spotted eyes!

Codi was able to get up close to a large black and yellow butterfly. It had irridescent blue spots on its tail. Very cool.

This flower is called “Foxy Lady”. It’s pretty common in this mountainous region.

This guy was part of a lounging and lazy pack of grey wolves. Codi and I called him out and he stared at us for a while. I wonder if he could smell the chicken and mushroom crepe I had for breakfast!

Here’s me with another lorikeet.

I love this leopard! Every time Codi and I visit to take pictures, he moves from his resting spot way up to the top branch of a tree. It’s like he knows it’s photo time and he’s happy to oblige!

Here’s what a lorikeet looks like close up.

On our way to the eagles’ aviary, we spotted a huge otter.

Codi got a great shot of this owl. He only looked forward once, so it’s good that she has a fast shutter finger!

No zoo is complete without zebras. These guys were resting in the shade.

This is a neat action shot of a butterfly landing on a flower. The colors and motion blur intrigue me.   (Click to see larger image.)

I wish I knew what specific kind of butterfly this is. Regardless, it’s awesome. The colors and markings are really quite nice.   (Click to see larger image.)

I know someone who’s visiting Moscow right now who loves falcons. This Peregrine Falcon was stunning to look at. He was a bit jumpy, but what a gorgeous animal! Today I learned that Peregrine falcons can fly up to 200 miles per hour in a dive, making them the fastest animal alive.   (Click to see larger image.)

Here’s another gorgeous leopard photo. What a cool animal! Total concentration, zero attitude, ultimate deadly force, but so, so cuddly, soft and endearing to watch.   (Click to see larger image.)

This was hilarious! A huge polar bear (we’ll call him “Dave”) walked up to a smaller polar bear (we’ll call her “Cindy”). While “Cindy” was chewing on a massive bone, Dave nuzzled right up to Cindy. Then Cindy opened her mouth and Dave gave her a big, fat french kiss. There was even tongue! Oh my god! Classic!   (Click to see larger image.)

For another funny polar bear moment at the zoo, check out this video clip I took in March 2004. It’s titled “Polar Poo”.