Cathy’s Camera

sort of. Actually I wish I’d had the 70-200 and a tripod. The TC1.4 would have been nice too – but something is better than nothing I guess.
When I was out to work the sheep this morning we were swooped by a hawk. A big guy, and I’m not sure what type he (or she) is (a Red Tail? But the tail didn’t appear to be red and he seemed larger). But there are pictures! So – here ya’ go – pics of the unknown hawk.
backside:

wings out:

front side:

Click on the photos for larger views.

Nikon D200 18-200 vr f5.6

With the lion cubs growing fast, I decided that I should go to the Wild Animal Park this morning to see the cubs and how they’ve changed in the few days since I’d last seen them.

Boy was I in for a treat. Today was the first day that the entire pride was together – Dad included!

It was amazing to watch him and the way the cubs would follow him around. Although it looks scary in the photo above, he seemed to just be walking around and talking.

Nikon D200 70-200vr+TC17E f6.7

I can’t help myself. Just had to go back to the Wild Animal Park again this morning to watch and shoot the lion cubs. The day started out with a crystal blue sky – very unlike the cloudy day on Tuesday. That translated into a lot more people at the park. But getting there before opening is definitely a good thing. No problems parking and got set up by the lion enclosure before they let the cubs and their mothers out.

Hope everyone doesn’t get bored of lion cub pictures because I feel a bunch more trips to the Wild Animal Park are in the cards!

D200 70-200vr+ TC17 f6.7 320mm

A quick trip to the San Diego Wild Animal Park today was more fun than a barrel of monkeys – it was two litters of lion cubs all romping around and wrestling with each other.

Photo taken with Nikon D200 70-200vr +TC17EII  f6.7 @340mm

These are two of the seven cubs at the Wild Animal Park. The seven cubs were born in November 2007 a few days apart. Their mothers, Mina and Oshana are sisters.

Photo taken with Nikon D200 80-400vr f8 @400mm

What a fantastic opportunity to shoot so many cubs all at once, and watching them play is definitely a rare treat. I’ll definitely be making a lot of trips there this spring.

Photo taken with Nikon D200 80-400vr f8 @400mm

I think that the gorillas can take a few lessons on posing from the meerkats. It seems like while at the meertkat enclosure the photo opportunities abound. Yet, take a walk over to the gorillas and what do you get? The backs of the gorillas. To get them in the light and facing remotely toward any camera seems next to impossible. With their dark dark faces I was wishing I could just pretty please get a little flash in there. Ah well, I’ll just have to make do with what I’ve got.

Photo taken with Nikon D200 80-400vr f5.3 @310mm

This gal could give posing lessons to the gorillas!

 
Photo taken with Nikon D200 80-400vr f5.6 @230mm

Don’t ask what this guy is doing!

Took a quick trip to the San Diego Wild Animal Park today to shoot the meerkats and the gorillas.

These two guys were into a grooming session when one of them got a little too rough. The interaction lasted only a moment and they were done and back to doing the typical Meerkat  watch out for preditors.

Photo taken with a Nikon D200, 80-400vr @160mm f5

Yup – caught this Meerkat with mud on his nose. He was busily digging away when I got to the exhibit. But he did manage to pose for my camera. I was testing out the Nikkor 80-400 vr f4.5-5.6

Photo taken with Nikon D200, 80-400vr @400mm f5.6

This guy was the only reptile that we saw in our close encounter. He’s about 3 years old and 3 feet long. He was cold to the touch and his feet were really quite soft.

Photo taken with Nikon D200, 70-200vr @200mm f5.6

The San Diego Zoo is an awesome place. The animals and the plants are incredible. I was a very fortunate person to get to go behind the scenes today and see animals up close an personal. Here’s one of the shots – a three year old Great Horned Owl.

Photo taken with Nikon D200, 18-200vr @200mm f8

blogging! It’s been a while since I’ve posted. A duck at a nearby park who made it through the So Cal fires of October.