Six Month Check In

Six months ago today, I stared into these eyes as he waddled up to me and snuggled me on the beach of South Georgia Island. That afternoon, I visited the largest King Penguin colony in South Georgia, and it was just magical.

December 26, 2013 was definitely a magical and memorable day.

Thank you for allowing me to share my experiences with you.

Juvenile Elephant Seal

South Georgia Island. December 2013.

Wildlife Learning Center Adult Zoology Class - Week 4

This is week 4 of the 5-week class...so it was our second to last one. Every class has been awesome and has exceeded my expectations. However, week 4 might as well have been titled "Animals Kristina would love to have". A macaw, a rabbit, a kinkajou, bonus time with the sloth, and....a hedgehog. Yes, I would love to own a hedgehog, but unfortunately they are also illegal to own as a pet in California. Of course we saw lots of animals, but I will highlight just a few here.

Macaw

Prairie Dog

Rex rabbit

African Pygmy Hedgehog

Cute little hedgehog face

Kinkajou peeking through the hole

Kinkajou

And... we got bonus time with Lola the two-toed sloth! So of course I am showing you more pictures that I took of her:

I have to thank the Wildlife Learning Center for offering this amazing class. Tomorrow is the last of the series, and I am so very sad that it is ending.

Thank you for stopping by!

Wildlife Learning Center Pictures- Week 2

Last Tuesday night's adult zoologyclass at the Wildlife Learning Center was my favorite so far. I know that I only have two to choose from, and the sugar glider from last week's class was pretty awesome, but this week held porcupines and Lola the two-toed sloth, among other awesome animals. I took lots of pictures and we saw lots of animals, but I am going to highlight four here.

We visited with the -- leashed -- Serval to start the class off. No petting this gal. Every breeze and rain drop were picked up by her large ears, and she was intently looking for the source of unfamiliar sounds. Our instructor, Marissa, gave her kitty food to get her to face in our direction.

Next were the porcupines. Every time I visit the Wildlife Learning Center, I have the best time watching these little guys waddle around, climb their tree stumps and cage, and bump into each other. We were also treated to the juvenile porcupine's special way of begging--- by throwing punches into the air.

I had been dying to meet Lola the two toed sloth for quite some time. She is usually in her little warm habitat to mimic her natural environment, and just the average visitor isn't able to get into the house. However, our class got to squeeze into her little -- and very warm-- house.

In order for us to be able to pet her, she had to be distracted with a special treat of sweet potatoes.

Exerting all of that energy was so very taxing for this little sloth, so after eating and getting her photos taken, she was very tired and gave us a huge yawn:

And then she curled up for some much needed sleep (hey, life is tough when you're a sloth):

Again, while we sat in our chairs during the lecture portion of the class, there was something a crate really itching to get out. It turned out to be this Arctic fox, which came to the WLC because it was in a fur house and did not have fur up to their standard.

Thankfully for us, and even more thankfully for the fox.

Again, I have to say thank you to the Wildlife Learning Center for offering such a great opportunity! I look forward to this evening's class!

And thank you for stopping by!

Pictures at the Wildlife Learning Center

I have always loved animals, and love visiting the Wildlife Learning Center. Imagine my excitement when I found out that they were offering an interactive adult zoology class for five weeks! Last week was my first class, and of course I took some photos to share with you all. We started learning about the different animal classifications, starting with insects such as the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach:

This Indian Stick insect:

And this scorpion (I did not touch this little guy):

We moved onto learning about amphibians by looking at this African Bullfrog:

And then moved onto learning about reptiles like this baby American Alligator:

We then learned that birds are closely related to the reptile family, and saw this blind screech owl that was rescued:

The softest little animal that was brought out for us to learn about was the Sugar Glider, a marsupial (there were actually four rolled up in a blanket, I was able to catch this one as he got out -- yes it had to be held so that it wouldn't glide away):

And out night ended with a showing of this grey fox:

I look forward to the next month of classes. Thank you to the Wildlife learning Center for offering this type of outreach to adults, and for doing great work!

And thank you, as always, for stopping by!

Whiskers on puppies

OK, if you don't like puppies, just stop reading. Actually, if you don't like puppies, maybe it's time for a little self reflection. Who doesn't like to at least look at puppies??!

So, my lovely friend had some adorable puppies about 7 weeks ago. Well, her dog did. I have been waiting for these puppies to become little fuzzballs of love for their closeups, and I was not prepared for the cuteness before me:

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80) Aperture: f/2.8 Focal Length: 90 mm ISO Speed: 4000

They are a mix of possibly Jack Russell Terrier and Chihuahua (but they are cute, I swear!). I only got a chance to really photograph two of them, since puppies have A TON of energy. The little black and white guy (called Marcel Marceau) and this other little guy, named Fatso:

(That's my friend Kelly kissing her puppy)

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80) Aperture: f/2.8 Focal Length: 90 mm ISO Speed: 800

The light in both photos is from a Tungsten light to the right of the camera in front of the subjects. Guess which smarty pants forgot to bring their powerful 580EX II flash? That would be me.

I love both of these photos because they really show the bond of human and animal, and how tiny and helpless these puppies are in the hands of a human being.

I like the paws and nose detail of the first photo, and the juxtaposition of puppy paws and human hands.

So this is another case I couldn't pick one photo of the day for my Project 365ish Photo 65. It's just too hard when cute puppies are around.

This reminds me of a photography teacher whose class I sat in on VERY briefly in college. She handed out the syllabus, and told us she really wanted us to push the envelope, and didn't want to see pictures of puppies and kittens. I didn't go back for the second class. But that's another story...

Thank you Kelly for inviting me to take photos of those precious little puppies! It was a blast chasing them around!

Thanks for stopping by!