Columbus January 9

More from January 9th.

Bodega. He's a California sea lion that's about 26 years of age and is a lot bigger than the females in the tank. Males develop a bump on their heads as they mature.

Harbor seal. Unless the animal is close to the glass, it looks blue.

More Sunshine

The Animal Encounters Village has a rotating selection of animals. There's a tank near the entrance that has had penquins, otters, and a duck.

Melvin. She's a domesticated duck that will follow a person along the glass.

These blue-and-yellow macaws were preening partners.

sand cat

Stingray Bay is across from the Village's exit, so I wandered in before I left the zoo. Volunteers outnumbered visitors three-to-one and I was the one. I didn't have any interest in touching the rays, but one of the volunteers was very enthusiastic and I kept hanging around, so what else could I do?

Mostly, the cownose rays bumped my hand. What looks like a mouth in the video is related to suction that's used to get food into its mouth, which is on the underside.

Columbus July 31

I was heading toward boredom with the Columbus Zoo, but I think that's because I've been going around noon. On my most recent trip I arrived at 8:00 and was rewarded.

This is Brian, a greater one-horned rhinoceros

This is a sloth bear, which someone on Instagram called a "lips bear." I had not heard that name, but the bear is also known as a "labiated bear" because of its long bottom lip.

Two sloth bears were outside, one male and one female. They apparently don't get along and there was some grunting at one another. I don't know which is which in these photos.

A Pallis' cat, of which I'd finally gotten a decent picture in May, was running around its enclosure, going so far as to come to the glass.

The baby Asian elephant's mom, Phoebe, spent quite some time throwing dirt on herself before she began eating from the net above her.

Phoebe's boy played with his ball. He's about age seven weeks. His name, Frankie, was announced August 26.

A blue-and-yellow macaw. I think it was trying to move to the wooden structure to the left but gave up. In my limited experience, zoo parrots would much rather climb than hop or fly to go somewhere. They use their beaks to hang on, but the tree branch is fake so it probably could not get a good grip. Or the bird was just stretching its leg.