Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Santa Barbara Zoo

The Santa Barbara Zoo is one of my favorite small zoos. I'm always happy to spend a few hours wandering there. Apart from the animals, the grounds are full of trees and plants.

I always appreciate opportunities to photograph the animals without bars or dirty windows in the way. Walk in aviaries are good. Sometimes the birds are too good at hiding, but not these flashy Mandarin ducks.

Mandarin duck

Most people probably wouldn't find turkey vultures attractive, but it's interesting to see them close up, rather than just soaring in the distance. This one was close to the fence where I could get some good photos.

Turkey vulture

The California condors are somewhat similar to the Turkey vultures, but much bigger.

California condor

I like to catch the animals showing "personality". This gorilla is looking thoughtful.

Gorilla

One of the elephants was happily eating, despite not having any teeth left to chew with.

elephant

Here's one of the teeth she lost:

elephant tooth

Most zoos have some unofficial residents, like this cottontail rabbit:

rabbit

The keeper was cleaning their enclosures so the flamingoes had moved closer to us. There were several juveniles (the gray ones in the background).

flamingoes

More exotic birds in an aviary:

bird

colorful bird

And a final closeup of the American alligator:

American alligator

See all 42 photos as a slideshow or overview

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