For my birthday, early this year, my two daughters bought me a ‘photo #experience day’ at #Chester #Zoo. It is so popular (despite the price) that the first day I could attend was Saturday 20 July, which luckily was warm and bright but not too sunny – good conditions for photography. The ‘guide’ was a lady called Rachel Sinclair, who used to run safaris in Kenya, so was good at both photography and knowledgeable about the animals.
The ’experience’ was from 10:00am to 15:00pm, with the rest of the day free to wander around, by myself, until the zoo closed.
The #guide’s ‘approach’ was to choose 5 animals to concentrate on, spending at least half an hour with each one to discuss the animal, wait for a vantage point and spend time taking photos. I have tried many times to get a good image of the #Jaguars – to no avail. So these were my first priority. We had no ‘special access’ to anywhere (a bit disappointing), so just awaited the cats to come out from the Jaguar house. Internally it is very dark, simulating a dense forest. As is currently ‘normal’ since the black (female) Jaguar arrived, the ‘spotted’ (male) Jaguar remained inside whilst the black one strutted her stuff outside by the waterfall, seemingly ‘posing’ for the public.
Not a ‘separate’ species, black Jaguars (or black Leopards), the ‘black’ skin is caused by melanism, and can affect over 10% of the population; though it is thought dark, dense forest can increase the likelihood. These ‘black cats’ are often called ‘black panthers’. One of my shots clearly shows the underlying skin patterning.
Although we did not know it, unfortunately one of the zoo’s #elephants (Sundara) had just died. As we queued up to gain a suitable vantage point to take photographs, a number of members of the public (presumably regulars) were asking why only four elephants were out. Actually most of the time we were there, only three elephants were out – they are free to come out and go back inside as they wish. However, being there for so long, we did hear about the demise of the fifth elephant, which raised a ‘groan’ from the crowd, and caused a few children to cry.
It is quite difficult to get ‘natural-looking’ images of the elephants in the zoo environment, so I was looking for something ‘a bit different’. Luckily one elephant obliged with a waterfall…
At this time of the year the #Caribbean #Flamingoes build very strange nests – mounds of mud – to lay their eggs. Some of the mounds can be two feet high. Luckily they have a ‘hollow’ in the top, so the bird can roll the egg around with little chance of it falling off the edge. The young are grey on hatching but turn rather bright pink on reaching ‘mating’ age. I cannot imagine the zoo ‘seeds’ the water with the algae #African Flamingoes need to maintain their colouring (but do not know).
Oft overlooked, as they nest above the flamingos, whose antics retain your attention, the #Scarlet #Ibis is one of my favourite birds; it is so bright and colourful I can see (and appreciate) its colouring.
Brought up in school and via 1950s/60s Hollywood safari films to believe #Rhinos were deadly, bad tempered creatures, we now know they are short-sighted, gentle and, unfortunately, hunted for their horns – as many Chinese believe the ground horns are medicinal. The Greater One-horned #Rhinoceros has skin that appears to look like plates of amour, due to it’s thickness. A layer of fat under the skin allows them to regulate their temperature and their thick skin protects them from sharp thorns and branches when browsing for food. Three times I went around the corner of the field to try to get a picture of it; and twice it hid its head behind a tree, as though deliberately. Fortunately I managed to achieve a full body image, but the lighting by then was dull, so it is really only a ‘record’ shot.
The only elegant thing I see in #giraffes are their eye-lashes; the rest is ungainly and they can be rather vicious to other giraffes. I found it strange – and potentially risky – that the zoo has provided a feeding platform so the public can feed the giraffes. Elsewhere, all around the zoo are signs forbidding animal feeding.
Many ‘old favourites’ were just not out; including #Cassowary, #Orangutan, the Central African #Cheetah and the Snow #Leopard. But the Silvery #Gibbons were, displaying their usual charm. The Lowland #Tapir was so drowsy it fell sideways as it nodded off. And if looking closely the odd #dragonfly were around.
The #big #cats have to be everyone’s favourites. The trouble with that is there are always large numbers of people in the way of getting good images; especially children. And, as they are fed irregularly, they spend a lot of time sleeping. We spent over an hour waiting for a good location and for the one ‘awake’ lion to get into a reasonable position to take a snap.
I always wondered what photographers do on their days off, and now i know - excellent stuff.
Great blog, well done Les, a great insight into Chester zoo and the animals that stay there, excellent images.