The Minnesota Zoo's Treetop Trail

Besides a farm, the Minnesota Zoo has a Treetop Trail, which used to be a monorail train. [Photos on the architect's site | New use for the train ] I walked part of it in September.

Some of the animal enclosures are spacious, and the animals can be far away.

Przewalski's horse (composite of two images)

American bison

takin

brown bears

The Minnesota Zoo's Farm

I visited the Minnesota Zoo September 20, 2025. Its farm is is more than a petting zoo; it seems to be a tiny working farm.

Here's a kunekune, a breed of pig:

Here's a wide goat:

 Here are two goats chewing:

 

Here's a goat walking down a ramp and making a comment:

A cow makes its own statement: 

Komodo Dragons

I've visited four zoos that have Komodo dragons.

Columbus, July 2019

Minnesota, December 2019

Cincinnati, December 2021

I continue to have trouble with white balance when shooting certain reptiles indoors. It's not the reptiles' fault; it's the enclosures' lighting. I'm never satisfied with my pictures of the Malagasy leaf-tailed gecko at the Columbus Zoo, for example. I've tried cloudy, shade, fluorescent, and specific color temperatures, but none gave me colors on the camera's screen that matched what I saw.

At the Toledo Zoo, in March this year (2025), a Komodo dragon was at his or her posing rock and looking fine. The rocks and dirt are sort of tan, but my first shot didn't look quite right. I have no patience for this, so I tried only two other settings before moving on.

Daylight

4000K (I admit I rather like this one.)

Auto

Toledo has at least two of the world's largest lizards. Here's the other one:

40 minutes later...

 Back to the first one:

I've adjusted a focus setting, so videos are more in-focus over all, but the lens hunts every time it refocuses, which I find annoying.

Rhinoceros Hornbill

I've seen rhinoceros hornbills at three zoos.

Kirana at the Toledo Zoo in 2018. Females have white eyes.

 

Andaru at the Toledo Zoo in 2019. Males have red eyes.

Cincinnati Zoo in 2021

A juvenile at the Minnesota Zoo in 2024

Kirana and Andaru have lived at the Toledo Zoo since 2008. They seem to be compatible, but there have been no chicks.

In January, 2025, the missing gardener and I attended a rhinoceros hornbill keeper talk. The keeper was inside the enclosure, tossing grapes to the birds, and he said the hornbills have excellent beak-eye coordination. He also explained that their upper and lower mandibles meet only at the tips of their beaks, so they catch the grapes at the tips and toss them into their mouths. I don't have shots of that, but I did catch a silvery-cheeked hornbill's toss in 2023.

Here, Kirana and Andaru share a tender moment and a grape:

Minnesota Zoo

The Minnesota Zoo has a large building that hosts the Tropics Trail. There are enclosures for specific species, a pond with a gibbon island, an aquarium, and a walk-through aviary.

African dwarf crocodile

Maylayan tapir

 

American avocet

metallic starling

My video of this duck turned out badly, but I kept it because of the LOUD gibbon:

There are at least two white-cheeked gibbons. Males are black and females are white:

The aquarium can be viewed from above, and there is a fish that seems to have some personality. (I readily anthropomorphize animals, especially if I know their names.) I often saw it swimming quickly back an forth, even breaking the surface.

August 2023

 

It sometimes made a little splash, and look at those buck teeth! And bulging eyes! How can you not like this fish? Are you heartless? Burt is my favorite reptile, and this is my favorite fish. It was also a mystery fish because I couldn't identify its species.

Last December, I was standing at the top of the tank next to a family (of people). The dad said, "There goes Scooter!" This was exciting to me, because [see above]. I turned and asked if that's its name, and a daughter replied that's just what they call it. "It's a good name," I said.

Scooter, also August 2023

I wasn't sure what Scooter looked like other than from above because it's difficult to see the surface from the underwater viewing area. One way I identify animals is through Google's image search, but my overhead shots didn't work. In December, I got a side-on picture.

Scooter, December 2024

Google told me Scooter is a yellowmargin triggerfish. I'm sad that I no longer have a mystery fish but happy that I have a name, even if it's unofficial.

There's no Business Like Snow Monkey Business

I visited the Minnesota Zoo in December and found snow monkeys up to snow monkey business. They eat snow on the move:

 They sit in the snow:

Note snowball

They make snowballs:

They lift the flap, rather than push through, to go inside

2023 Part 2: Mammals

Here are some mammals my camera found in 2023.

Brian, a greater one-horned (Indian) rhino, loved his ball in Columbus. He's since moved to another zoo.

My first picture of an aardvark (Columbus Zoo).

red ruffed lemur (Columbus Zoo)

koala (Columbus Zoo)

siamang, a species of gibbon (Columbus Zoo)

African leopard (Columbus Zoo)

Stubby, a Florida manatee. She's a foster mom to youngsters that stay in Columbus during rehabilitation.

female white-handed gibbon (Minnesota Zoo)

golden-headed lion tamarin (Toledo Zoo)

reticulated giraffe (Toledo Zoo)

polar bear playing with a bucket lid (Toledo Zoo)

2023 Part 1: Birds

Here are some 2023 bird shots I haven't previously posted.

red-legged seriema (Columbus Zoo). It was squawking.

common ostrich (Columbus Zoo)

red-billed leiothrix (Columbus Zoo). Not a good shot, but I like the pose.

brown-headed cowbird (Columbus Zoo)

king vulture (Minnesota Zoo)

lesser flamingo (Minnesota Zoo)

American avocet (Minnesota Zoo)

chestnut-breasted malkoha (Toledo Zoo)

Palawan peacock pheasant - female (Toledo Zoo)

crested coua (Toledo Zoo)

blue-bellied roller (Toledo Zoo)

northern bald ibis (Toledo Zoo)

Aerial Catch

Ember, a black kite, demonstrated its hunting prowess at the World of Birds show at the Minnesota Zoo in August. The bird flew along a walkway to the left of the seating area and a keeper/trainer tossed something enticing into the air. (More flipbook action!)

In 2018, I didn't try to follow a bird in flight. Photographing cheetah runs gave me practice following moving animals, and today I'm happy with my first shots of flying birds. My camera settings for the birds were workable: Continuous autofocus was most important. Shutter priority would have made more sense than aperture priority (f/8), but the day was bright enough with ISO 560 that the slowest shutter in these shots was 1/750s.

I know a little more about what I'm doing, and my equipment has changed. In 2018 I used a Nikon D50, which was introduced in 2005. That camera croaked the same year, and I began using a D7000, which was introduced in 2010. In April of this year, I upgraded to a D7500 (introduced in 2017, and Nikon is still selling it). I also have a longer lens with vibration reduction. (I buy my equipment used and have no complaints.)