Sun Lit Sunday

This is the last Sun Lit Sunday for this year.

Thank you Karen for hosting.

I'm going to miss them.

Azaleas blooming at the Houston Zoo:

And at the Japanese Garden:

Last year I missed the azaleas blooming in Hermann Park, the zoo and the garden.

Thanks to our cooler weather, the blooms were running a little late 

and I ran on time! 

What a treat!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

It's Baby Time!

It's baby time at the Houston Zoo.

This is Baridi, the newest member of the Giraffe herd.

He was 6' 6" tall at birth and weighted in at 165 pounds.

Baridi means cold in Swahili. He was born on a very cold morning.

Meet Duncan, the newest member of the Asian Elephant herd.

He was 6 days old when I visited.

He's with his Mom, Shanti.

Thank you, Misty!

And thank you Eileen at Saturday's Critters.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

My World: Zoo Lights

The Holiday season is off to a good start at the Houston Zoo.

I thought the lights were lovely last year,
but this year, they knocked my socks off.
This is just a sampling.

Thank you to the hosts of Mosaic Monday and My World.

Wishing you all well and much joy!

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Merry

Camera Critters: Cougar

On one of my recent visits to the zoo,

cougars Shasta and Haley were having a discussion about the best place to take a nap.

Both of the cougars are young cats and their stories are similar.

It is legal to kill cougars under certain circumstances.

It is illegal to kill female cougars with kits.

Both Haley and Shasta's mothers were killed. 

Shasta had two siblings that were found quickly and rescued, but Shasta went hiding.

He was finally found and made his way to the Houston Zoo where he is now the official

mascot of the University of Houston cougars. 

Just look at those feet! 

They share a lovely habitat -- plenty of room to climb, run and jump and no one to shoot them.

Thanks to Misty for hosting Camera Critters each week.

Wishing all of you well and much joy.

Good Morning!

Boo!

Oh let us cast dull care away

Again be children for a day

Witches, Goblins have their sway

Tis Hallowe'en, let's joke and play

Wishing all of YOU well and much joy.

Happy Halloween!

Photos taken at Zoo Boo 2013

Camera Critters: Babies!

I've been visiting the Houston Zoo while the weather is cooperating --

not too hot or too cool.

My first stop is always the Chilean Flamingo habitat to see the flamingo chicks.

"When I grow up, I want to look just like you!"

"Hey, look at me! I can stand on one leg, too. Yoga, flamingo style."

"Come on in. The water is fine."

It is so exciting to see the flamingo chicks.

You can read more about the flamingo habitat and the changes that were made here.

A big thank you to Misty for hosting Camera Critters each week.

Wishing all of YOU well and much joy.

Just Look At That Face!

Just look at that face!

I bet you are smiling.

I've been waiting for years to get a decent photo of the Golden Lion Tamarins.

Their move into the Natural Encounters building allowed me to finally get that shot.
Breakfast had just been served.

Lion tamarins take their name from their impressive manes.

The Golden Lion Tamarin my be the most beautiful of the four lion tamarin species.

Critically endangered, the tamarins live in Brazil's coastal rain forests.

These rain forests are disappearing due to ever-expanding logging, agriculture,

and industry.

Thanks to Misty for hosting Camera Critters each week.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Have a fun filled weekend.

To my Canadian friends: Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Potpourri

It's Friday.

Time for some randomness with a little this and that.

*

What a beautiful week.

It started off with the first real cool front of the season.

Off I went to the Japanese Garden.

The azaleas are a bit confused -- they were blooming!

**

Then it was off to the zoo where they are busy decorating for Zoo Boo

and for Holiday Lights.

What do you do with a dead tree?

You carve it with a small chain saw into chimps climbing on a tree!

Located just in front of the entrance to the chimp habitat.

***

I have one more Christmas tree to crochet and my Christmas hot pads are all finished.

I started sending off the Halloween hot pads to their new homes.

I have yarn left over from the afghans I made several years ago.

I had to try out the Bavarian crochet pattern -- also called Catherine's Wheel. 

It took some frogging before I was comfortable with the pattern.

It reminds me a little of the cathedral window quilting pattern.

****

I have a list of books to look for when I make my run to Barnes and Noble today.

Top of the list -- the new Bill Bryson -- One Summer in American: 1927.

*****

The cool front didn't last very long.

The heat and humidity are back.

Next cool front is due in late next week.

Another trip to the Japanese Garden and Zoo is planned.

Thanks, Nancy!

******

Wishing all of YOU well and much joy!

Play

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Camera Critters: Jaguar

After a big meal, there is nothing like a nap!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Camera Critters: Cougar

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Camera Critters: Ivy

This is Ivy, the black leopard living at the Houston Zoo.

Ivy is a beautiful lady.

Like many older women, she has bad joints.

She recently had stem cell therapy to treat her joint disease.

Thank you to Misty for hosting Camera Critters.

Wishing YOU well, much joy and a fun filled weekend.

Chilean Flamingos

Today I'm taking you to the Houston Zoo and the newly refurbished
Chilean Flamingo Habitat.

The Chilean Flamingo pool and waterfall opened in 1926 and it became
the centerpiece of what was then the Zoo's main entrance.
At the time, the exhibit and pool design were state-of-the-art for zoo exhibits.
Failing infrastructure of the pool, new innovations in avian husbandry
and a desire to enhance guest viewing of the flamingos prompted the recent decision
to perform a complete renovation of the area.

The updated space features a 20,000 gallon filtered pool, 

a separate feeding pool,

new animal holding facilities,

and lush new vegetation. 

The renovated habitat also includes a large nesting island that

will allow the Zoo's flock of flamingos to grow into the future.

The original exhibit concrete decorative work was designed and built by

Mexican-American artist Dionicio Rodriguez.

Mr. Rodriguez specialized in "faux bois" artwork, which is the use of cement to create

the look of wood.

During the renovation of the Zoo's flamingo exhibit, 

the artificial trees that were designed and built by Mr. Rodriguez have been cleaned and repaired.

I hope you enjoyed this visit to the Chilean Flamingos at the Houston Zoo.

Detailed information about the Flamingo exhibit provided by WILDLIFE published by the Houston Zoo.

Thank you to Misty for hosting

and to Mary for Mosaic Monday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Splash Time!

I've spent a wee bit of time at the zoo lately -- especially with the Asian Elephants.

This is Mithai.

She celebrated her 44th birthday earlier in May.

She is the matriarch of the herd and spends a lot of time keeping the youngsters in line.

A little Spa time before dealing with the kids.

Mithai with Baylor.

He gets a little rambunctious and picks on little Tupelo.

Mithai decided Baylor should just stay in the pool!

Splash time!

Tess (Tupelo's Mom) and Shanti (Baylor's Mom) let Mithai discipline Baylor.

Looks like fun!

Baylor really does think he is the star of the show.

He is named after the Baylor College of Medicine.

BCM and the Houston Zoo have joined together to do research on the

Elephant Herpes Virus which is deadly to Asian Elephants in captivity and in the wild.

They've made progress -- especially in finding new treatments. 

Thank you to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday

and to Misty for the wonderful Camera Critters.

Thanks for visiting and don't forget to check out my

Blog-O-Birthday celebration.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!