Akron Zoo

The missing gardener and I visited the Akron Zoo a couple of weeks ago, our first time. It's small, and we don't mind that a bit. Admission was only $8 and parking $3. The indoor exhibits were closed, so I was disappointed we did not get to see the lemurs and some other animals, but we enjoyed our visit.

snow leopard

The snow leopard enjoyed its slab of ice. Check out the snowshoes.

I used software to brighten the snow leopard photos by one stop. I had trouble all day with exposure and white balance and I don't understand why.

This bug was on the glass of one of the exhibits.

I like the dark background and the way the bug is backlit, but it would be nice if it were in focus. I don't examine my pictures closely on the camera. I look for composition--did I include what I wanted to, and did I cut off the animal's head?--obvious poor focus, and obvious poor exposure. The bug looked great on the camera's three-inch screen, but some zooming-in would have revealed the poor focus.

white stork

North American river otter

 The ball had (dead) fish in it, and the otter spun the ball to get the fish out.

hibiscus, the best photo of the day

A female Andean condor. Males have combs on their heads.

Galapagos tortoise

Neighborhood hawk

It's pretty common in my neighborhood to hear hawks or see them overhead. We've even had one on our fence a couple of times. I have a couple of older photos, but now I have a better camera and a longer lens.

The missing gardener alerted me to two hawks perched on the far side of our neighbors' back yard. I grabbed my camera and took horrible pictures of them through the window screen. Then I ran outside.

The hawk that had been on top of a utility pole was gone, but the other one, on wires, was still there.

a red-shouldered hawk

As I watched and took pictures, it became interested in something below.

Then...

To get closer, I ran out our gate to the neighbors' back patio--we are on good terms--and called out, but not soon enough to avoid startling them.

I don't know if its hunt was successful, but the hawk had returned to the wires and posed nicely.

 

It turned around for me, too.