September 4, 2019

I went to the Columbus Zoo September 4th. The most interesting thing was a laughing kookaburra managing its meal.

This went on for a couple of minutes, and it's the way a kookaburra kills its larger prey or breaks its bones for easier swallowing. I missed the decisive moment but caught the end:

A laughing kookaburra has swallowed a mouse.

cabbage white butterfly, I think

white-handed gibbon

Komodo dragon

A Dalmatian pelican. These birds are huge.

Probably a Mallard. It's in the same pond as the pelicans.

I kind of freaked-out when I saw this animal approaching the pelican pond. Asian small-clawed otters are right next door, and I thought one had escaped. The animal quickly entered the water and swam, submerged, to an island. (I followed its progress thanks to bubbles.) It climbed out, and I decided its longish, pointed snout meant it was not an otter. A weasel? Back at home, I found the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' nifty web pages devoted to Ohio's wildlife, and those pages and other sites told me the animal is an American mink.

American mink, an uninvited zoo guest

Asian small-clawed otters having a snack

I need to learn not to put the camera away until I've left all the animals behind. I was in the Congo area when I decided I was done, so I stowed the camera (I did not have my bag this time, so "stowing" in this instance consisted of moving the camera from bouncing on my belly to over my shoulder), and walked toward the exit past the Caribbean flamingos. I have over 130 pictures of flamingos and am not sure I need more, but I decided to take a look because they're often amusing. There was a small crowd (of people) at the far end of the enclosure, so I decided to see what was going on. The reward was three flamingo chicks, all about 45 days old.

This one's already got the hang of it.

 

I don't know if the birds are imprinted on keepers, but there were three keepers and three flamingos.