Zooming in on the Zoo!

Hi Everyone -

Sorry it has been a while since our last blog post. As you probably heard, I have gotten a new job. My last day at Bongo was yesterday, and Glenn and I took the rest of the week  off to enjoy. So today, we went to the zoo.

However, first of all, some miscellaneous pictures taken over the past few weeks.

When Glenn was in Atlanta, he found a restaurant and hotel that he particularly liked.

Also, a couple weeks ago, we visited Chad and Lisha before their trip to Europe. This is the view from their apartment, which is at the Westshore Yacht Club. We had a nice pizza dinner out on their balcony.

A peek through their kitchen

We also have a picture of the moon, and some random shots of Safety Harbor...I believe we took those when we went down to the pier one night to fish unsuccessfully.

Here is a picture of an outdoor tiki bar place called the Getaway. Sorry, this isn't the best format to show off these cool panoramas.

Glenn also surprised me last Saturday by taking me to the Straz Center in Tampa to see a musical called "Once," which is set in a bar in Dublin. The Straz Center was very nice and the show was great! Lots of fun Irish music.

Also, here is a sunrise picture Glenn took on his way to work on Monday.

Alrighty, so I think that about catches us up to today when we went to the Lowry Park Zoo. We were there before but I think it is close to 2 years ago, and I did not have the SuperZoom camera then. :-)

The first section of the zoo features animals from Florida.

Tom, we figured you might like these first ones...

Also Manatees!

 

I kinda like this shot.

 

 

 

The playful otters remain elusive and difficult to photograph.

Look over here, damnit!

These guys are bigger than the ones I usually see.

Smile!

Flamingos are not native to Florida. I think having them here is just pandering to the tourists.

Black Bear

Red Wolf


So at this point, I think we moved into Africa.

 

I forget what this is so I will just call him a cranky old man bird.
 

 

I had to look some of these up - I believe this tiny antelope is a Bay Duiker.

And this guy is an Okapi.

 

Sticking my tongue out at you too!

I think this next one may be my favorite pic of the day. I spotted a Cheetah hiding quite far away, inside a big pipe. When I focused in on him, he finally looked up...

 

I see you.

 

 

This is a Gibbon.

 

And a Mandrill who would not look at me.

 

Look at his hand - so human looking...

This Orangutan was up very high and "wearing" a man's button-down shirt.

Komodo Dragon says, "What?"

This is the aptly-named Sloth Bear.

This mama and baby rhino just looked like big rocks in this muddy little pool.

 

I think at some point with the monkeys we moved into Asia...it will probably be a mix going forward...Here, for example, are some penguins (Glenn took these pics on his phone).

 

 

 

 

And somewhat less adorable...

These are called Indian Gharial

Grinning for the camera!

And this little sweetie is a one month old Babirusa, which some idiot parents told their kid was a baby hippo. Does this look like a hippo?!

 

 

 

 

We also went to the Australian section where we got to go on Walkabout with the Wallabys. Apparently they are safe enough that you can just go in with them.

 

 

Sleepy Wallaby

Amazing eyelashes

 

Shh...the Koala is sleeping!

 

 

And you probably are too after that long day at the zoo! Hope you enjoyed the trip!





Happy Labor Day!

Hi All -

I hope you all are enjoying your extended Labor Day weekend. It is a grey day here in Florida, and I am watching Glenn prune the palm trees from a ladder. Always a good time.

Sorry I have not blogged for a while (I have heard that our customer service representatives have received some complaints). Glenn was traveling for much of August, and our photo-worthy adventures have been limited. I hope to make up for that now.

Before I do, I will note that Glenn just discovered a small snake in our backyard. He said he went towards it, and instead of it running off (or slithering off) as most small snakes down here do, it came towards him. It was then that Glenn noticed its tail was rattling. Yes, folks, we appear to have a baby rattlesnake in our yard. Glenn went to get something so he could get rid of it, and when he returned, the snake was gone. Not a fun creature to play hide and seek with. I hope he has left town.

So, I'll go back about a week or so. Glenn has been helping me with my latest fitness challenge, and last week, we took our bikes on a 2-hour tour down Bayshore and then onto the Causeway. I will remind you all that I am not a gifted cyclist.

Taking a break!

We made it to the Causeway, which is the 8 mile bridge that crosses the bay. We only rode on a small portion, but saw some nice scenery.

These guys were casting nets for baitfish. You can see downtown Tampa in the distance.

Osprey in a Palm tree

On the way back, we went through the little Veterans Park which is by the Safety Harbor Marina. Glenn got some nice pics of the fountains and flowers.

This weekend, on Saturday, we went to Treasure Island - an "old Florida" kind of beach town near Gulfport (home of Geckofest) and St. Pete Beach. We went to a place called Caddies on the Beach, which had some fun live music, good food, and excellent scenery.

This is a view from their upper deck.

And of course, I had some fun with my camera at sunset, so please indulge me for a moment...

Also, this boat was just in a perfect spot, so you'll see a lot of it.

Let's get a better look at that sun.

Ta-da!



So yes, a lovely night at Caddies.

Sunday (yesterday), we went fishing off the Dunedin Causeway. It was a beautiful morning and we saw some nice dolphins swim by.

Too fast for me, but Glenn got this with his phone.



I did not have much luck yesterday, catching only a pigfish and whatever this guy is (yellow finned snapper? little tuna of some sort?). Glenn held him, but I caught him.

Glenn had more luck, catching about 7 pigfish, a ladyfish...

some sort of red fish (below)...

...another little snapper like whatever mine was, and a nice flounder (hard to see here, since he spun around sideways).

I also got some nice pictures of these oystercatchers - very pretty and unusual looking birds.

Check out his eyes.

So anyway, I guess that is about it for now. Hope you all enjoying the end of summer! Take care!