Thursday 7 March 2019

A spontaneous day trip to Somerset and East Devon!!! - The Axe Valley Wildlife Park - Feb 20th 2019

Jaguarundi at Axe Valley


"Any plans for tomorrow?" my bestie said to me. "Fancy accompanying me on a drive into Somerset?" well, being the adventurous spirit I am, loving to explore and discover new places, I didn't need asking twice!!!!  My camera gear already packed, I prepared for my exciting day ahead!

A Beautiful privately owned dwelling
The only not so exciting part of the day was the wake-up call at silly o'clock! I'm not renowned for my love of early mornings! so the alarm going off at 3.45am wasn't so welcome, but once in the car and with my first cup of cappuccino inside me, I eagerly anticipated the day ahead!

With a 4 hour long journey into Somerset, we reached the beautiful county by around 7.30am/8am giving us a nice long day ahead. We stopped by the side of a beautiful privately owned house which appeared to be a church. It was difficult to pass by and not take a few photos. It was such a beautiful sight: beautiful architecture, daffodils, a lovely flowing stream, and small rocky waterfall and a brilliant blue sky with lovely clouds. Thankfully, I was able to crouch down far enough into a tiny corner on the outskirts of the property and just about get in the full view through the railings as I didn't have my wide angle lens to hand at the time.


A Bullfinch at Steart Marshes
We drove on to one of the WWT sites (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) at Steart Marshes. This is a really beautiful site with plenty of wonderful bird watching facilities including hides and lovely pathways to explore. Dog-friendly too, my sheltie Benji enjoyed his time there while remaining on a lead at all times. Created by the Environment Agency and the WWT, The marshes on the Steart Peninsula are one of the UK's largest new wetland reserves. They serve to provide protection from rising sea levels and provide a habitat for many species, not just avian. Roedeer, Hares, and Otters can also be spotted here so it is definitely somewhere I would like to return to to fulfill my lifelong dream of trying to see wild otters! I saw a lot of Lapwing on the lakes as well as some birds such as this Bullfinch feeding from one of the local feeders.

In the afternoon I got to spend a wonderful couple of hours at the Axe Valley Wildlife Park. Sometimes luck is on your side as you happen to be in the right place at the right time! I just happened to be scrolling through my FB page on my phone having a brief catch up when I noticed some photos from an FB acquaintance having posted some photos in one of the animal groups we both belong to. "Axe Valley", hmmm I have an inkling that may well not be too far from here! a quick google search showed we were only an hour at max away from it.

Arriving at the Axe Valley around 2pm, my friend was happy to look after Benji for a couple of hours so I was able to go in and have a walk around. I was soo excited!!! I was aware that they had some really unusual mammals there, the more exotic species that very few zoos near me have. Being only a smallish place it was an ideal place for me to wander around easily and revisit the animals there in the hopes of catching glimpses of some of these rarer species. It was the Palm Civets and Genets in particular that I was really hoping to see but these beautiful animals decided that sleep was more exciting for them than coming out to greet me! So another visit is on the cards for the future!

Long-Nosed Potoroo at Axe Valley Wildlife Park
I did however really enjoy my visit there and got to see some other unusual animals including the Long-nosed Potoroo. I had only ever caught brief glimpses of these animals at other zoos before now so it was great to finally be able to get a photo of one! These rather bizarre looking animals are members of the Rat-Kangaroo family Potoroidae and are closely related to Kangaroos and Wallabies. There are two subspecies of Long-nosed Potoroo, one of which lives on the Australian mainland and the other residing in Tasmania, the latter having lighter colouration.

Beautiful Arctic Fox at Axe Valley Wildlife Park
One of the highlights for me was seeing the Arctic fox in all its glory. It was one of the very few times I have ever seen a beautiful white fox and I was mesmerized!!! Though this beautiful animal wasn't strictly pure white as such and showed a more blue-grey coat colouration, which is also quite typical of the breed. These magnificent animals are found throughout the artic Tundra of the Northern Hemisphere where they have evolved special adaptations enabling them to withstand the harsh climate which can reach as low as -58 degrees! Coat colour changes with the seasons, providing effective camouflage in winter when they adorn their white (or blue-grey coats) against the snow and ice of the tundra. In summer as the tundra gives way to reveal rocks and plants, their coat turns to more of a brown colour. They also have short ears and a short muzzle and also have furry soles which help them cope with the chilly temperatures.

If you're anything like me, you'll also have a full appreciation for colourful  birds. I just find the vast array of different species of them fascinating! Axe Valley proved to a wonderful place as they house a variety of birds, both large and small. One of my favourite birds there was the White-Cheeked Turaco. First bred in the UK in 1964, they are the most popular of the Turaco species within zoos as they breed so well. Members of the family Musophagidae, this translates literally to "Banana eaters".


Black Swan preening itself at Axe Valley
Among the larger birds at Axe Valley were Black Swans, which were great to see! also, Flamingoes and Cranes to name just a few. Black Swans originate from Australia however were introduced as ornamental birds to many countries in the 1800's. Following the escape of some animals, Small pockets of them began to build up along certain counties within the Uk along the rivers. Whilst being monogamous as are white swans, these swans are unusual in that one quarter of all pairings are homosexual, generally between males.
Vibrant  Lovebird at Axe Valley

One little bird that took me back to my younger years was the Lovebird. During my late teens, I had two of my own Lovebirds. I called them Kiwi (yes, he was a Green bird!) and Malaika (A peach face Love bird). I grew up surrounded by many pets of the feathered, scaled and furry kind so thank my mum for my love and appreciation of all things relating to animals and nature. I enjoyed reminiscing as i observed the beautiful Lovebirds there.

There are nine species of Lovebird, eight of which are native to Africa with the ninth (The Grey-headed Lovebird) being native to Madagascar. Lovebirds are small parrots belonging to the genus Agapornis. Living in holes within trees, rocks or shrubs, interestingly, different species build their nests in different ways. For example, Fishers Lovebird carry single bits of bark in their beaks, whereas the Peach-Faced Lovebird hides bark in it's feathers exhibiting a more complex from of behaviour.


The Lovebird is also thought to be connected to Valentines Day. A poem by Geoffrey Chaucer called "Parliament of Foules" features two birds and is thought to be the first evidence to a link of a religious festival called Saint. Valentine and  romantic love.

Leopard Cat at Axe Valley
My visit to Axe Valley enabled me to see a cat that i had never seen before: The Leopard Cat. I was astounded by just how small these cats are! Weighing in at around 3.9 KG as an adult, it's very similar in size to my domestic cat! These small wild cats are native to Asia being found throughout the Southeast, South and East of the continent. Though similar in size to a domestic cat they are more slender with longer legs and well-defined webs between it's toes. I learnt that it was the Leopard cat that was the species of cat to become associated with humans in a domestic type setting in Neolithic China some 5,000 years ago! Since the 1960's hybrids have been produced for the pet trade resulting in the Bengal cat (a cross between an Asian Leopard Cat and an Asian Leopard). I arrived just as feeding time was about to commence. I got to see them playing with their food. As Carnivores, they eat small prey such as amphibians, rabbits, mice etc.

Fishing Cat at Axe Valley


It was also a fab day for getting some great shots of the Fishing Cat. I have seen them quite often as they have them at Howlett's Zoo where i go to quite often. Seeing them however and photographing them are two different things!!!! Another beauty of the small size of the park at Axe Valley was that my patience paid off as the Fishing Cats weren't easily seen on my first walk around! For me, it was seeing those magnificent big eyes up close!



Carols around the tree Lemur-style!
One of my funny highlights of the day was seeing the RingTailed Lemurs. Watching them playing was quite comical. Many of the enclosures at the park had Conifers in them, presumably as some kind of enrichment for them. The Lemurs in particular seemed to find these great fun to leap on and explore. I took a photo of a group of them and called it a Lemur version of "Carols around the Xmas tree!"


I could so easily have spent so much longer within the Park as i wasn't able to see all of the animals or photograph them but it's certainly somewhere i would love to go back to!!!

Here's a few more photos from my brief visit to this lovely little gem of a place.

Until next time! Take care folks and thanks for reading!!!

Egyptian Mongoose
Bush Dog
Prarie Dog

































Thursday 6 December 2018

It's a long way for a baby Panda!!!!

Hello again my wonderful people,
Well, it's a cold wet  December evening here in the UK, but grab your passports as we're headed off across the channel to France! Set the time travel machine as we're going back in time to April 2018.

I always enjoy travelling abroad, but I was especially excited as this was to be the first trip I had planned that revolved around a visit to a European Zoo. Now you might be thinking to yourself, why go all the way to France just to go to the zoo? But with each zoo comes different characters with different personalities, the chance to wander around often beautiful and very different environments and not forgetting the chance to see species which the zoos nearer to home don't have! So, having learned of a baby Panda having been born in the Aug of 2017, I just had to go and see it!

Our Cottage in Restigne 
What was originally going to be just a long weekend trip for my mum and I turned into a week-long stay in which we also took along my 17-year-old daughter Sammy and her best friend Amie. It worked out cheaper for us all to rent a beautiful cottage in Restigne in the Loire Valley, so that became our base for the week. The girls enjoyed a bit of independence, but also came out places with us too. Taking my mum's car and her mobility scooter, away we went!

Selfie Time! mum and I 
Zooparc De Beauval is about 100 km from Restigne near a village called Saint Aignan, so mum and I set off early to max out our day at the zoo. Being early April it was quite pleasant weather so I donned my favourite Hollister Trackie and cute little Koala T-shirt, which i felt was quite appropriate for the day. I was also looking forward to seeing them for the first time since seeing them in London Zoo as a young child.

Arriving at the park we gathered our bearings and headed straight for the Giant Pandas. I felt like I was walking through part of China or the Far East as I approached the Panda enclosure. This part of the zoo looked very oriental with Dragons and typical foliage found in the Pandas native homeland. Baby Yuan Meng was born on August 4th, 2017 weighing just 142 grams!!!! His mother Huan Huan had given birth to another cub a few minutes earlier but sadly the firstborn cub didn't survive. I'd been closely following his birth on social media from the time he was born so was elated to finally get a chance to see him!

Yuan Zi
Mum and I had to do the typical selfie thing as baby Yuan Meng has pooled in thousands of visitors from all over the world! We soon began to realize just how popular he was as there was a very long queue inside the Panda enclosure where mum and the baby were.

At the time of our visit, Yuan Meng was 8 months old and weighed in at 19 KG! We could see dad Yuan Zi outside in the enclosure. I can't describe the pure happiness I felt at seeing a Panda in front of me after so many years. As with the Koalas, the last time I had seen a Panda had been at London Zoo and must've been in the late 1970s or early '80s. Dad seemed to be enjoying himself munching on Bamboo. At one point he decided to go for a climb up a tree in his enclosure.

Yuan Zi
Mum and I queued up for some time to get a chance to see Yuan Meng. It really was quite an event! I've never known a Zoo to be "quite" so manic with visitors all eager to see the latest arrival and this was some 8 months on from his birth! When our turn finally arrived, Yuan Meng was positioned right up close against a wall so I wasn't able to get any decent pics as such but it was lovely to be able to see him! He looked so small and it was incredible to think that before long he would grow to be as big as his dad at around 160 KG or just under.
Young Yuan Meng
 Pandas have proved to be quite challenging animals to breed in captivity but with numbers as low as 1600 in the mountainous forests of Central China, and only around 300 in captivity, it's vital for the Panda population to continue to increase their numbers.

A female Panda has a very limited window of opportunity in which to conceive, having only one single oestrus cycle each year in the Spring. During this time, she is only fertile for 24 - 36 hours. Add to that the problems of trying to actually get the male and female to mate in the first place, believe it or not, it doesn't appear to always come naturally to them and some zoos have resorted to using artificial insemination. (AI) Even then, Pandas can undergo something called embryonic diapause. The embryo will be fertilized but may not actually implant in the uterine wall for some time. Until this happens, the embryo can't begin to grow, so it's not always easy to tell if a Panda is pregnant! Gestation can, therefore, last between 50 days and 160 days plus!!!!

But for Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, they managed to parent this beautiful little bundle, (conceived via AI) who will grow up to chomp through around 9 - 14 KG of Bamboo shoots a day. Though 99% of their diet consists of vegetation, they are actually classified as carnivores having the digestive system of a meat eater, so are not well equipped to cope with a diet high in undigestible cellulose.  Meat however only makes up around 1% of their diet. With their low metabolic rates and sedentary lifestyle, it allows them to exist on this very nutrient poor diet. I thought an elephant pooped a lot as they can defaecate up to 22 times a day but apparently, a Panda tops even that by going up to 40 times a day!!!!!

Kruger and Malawi in an intimate embrace!
As I walked around Beavaul, I was taken in by the sheer beauty of the park. I could very easily see why it has been rated as one of the top 5 zoos in the world. With 10,000 animals including 600 species set in 40 hectares, I was absolutely in my element! The lion enclosure is one of the nicest I have seen with rocky outcrops and plenty of space. It's a fairly new exhibit called Land of the Lions. I saw the breeding pair, Kruger, and Malawi hard at work preparing for the future generation of cubs! yep, they were caught on camera in action! Following on from this or another mating around the same time, 3 cubs were born in July, 2 males (Kivu and Issa) and a female (Sabi). They will have joined their older siblings already part of the pride.
Bonding time for pride members

There was one young male cub, in particular, that was rather stunning! I'm not sure how old he was but he had the start of a beautiful mane already! I watched some wonderful moments as another of the cubs interacted with another member of the pride.

There were quite a few big Cats there including Sumatran Tigers, White Tigers, Puma, Jaguar, Cheetah, and Snow Leopard, but the Lions, in particular, was a very impressive part of my day.

Manatee underwater taken with my mobile phone
Whilst I always love to see some of the other African big five such as the Elephant and Rhino, one of the most exciting things about this zoo was the vast array of species I hadn't encountered before now. I'd only ever seen Manatees on TV or in books and magazines until this day, though they proved very challenging to get photos of!!

I was so ecstatic though to see these large animals submerged under water but as beautiful as the environment was, with temperatures needing to be maintained above 20 degrees, my camera just wasn't happy! The lens kept misting up! In the end, I resorted to using my mobile phone! Beauval has Caribean Manatees, though two other species exist: The Amazonian Manatee and the African Manatee. Quite interestingly, it is the Manatee that is at the root of the origin of the legend of the Sirens. Greek mythology tells of these Sirens who would lure sailors to their death with their beautiful singing voices (called lamentations), and the scientific word Sirenia is now used to describe these animals as well as their cousins the Dugongs. Legend tells of these "Mermaids" or "sirens" who would rise and fall out of the water and perform tail stands in shallow water, which is what the Manatee does. With forelimbs containing five sets of finger-like bones and neck vertebrae allowing them to turn their heads, this could explain why the Manatee has been mistaken for a human from afar.
Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo

And a Goodfellow's Dendrolague, errr what was that? Well, I now know it's a kind of Tree Kangaroo. Quite a cute little Marsupial native to Indonesia and the Rainforests of New Guinea. I spent quite some time in this part of the exhibit as this little individual spent some time sleeping and I was hoping to see it awake. My patience was rewarded! This was also where the Koalas were! I could have quite easily spent my day just in this part of the zoo and a day simply wasn't enough to spend the amount of time with each animal I would have liked to do.

Sleepy Koala
 When I think of Koalas, I am taken back to the Quantas Airlines advert being shown in my childhood. I also had a Koala soft toy I was given as a baby. Funny the things we remember as an adult! Beauval has had Koalas in the zoo since 2002 though a new enclosure was built for them in 2017. Like the Panda, they also have very sedentary lifestyles and a diet not particularly high in nutritious sustenance. They are the only animals that feed on Eucalyptus leaves and can do this due to the production of a specialized enzyme capable of breaking down the toxins in the eucalyptus leaves. Koalas are quite solitary animals and will only spend about 15 mins of the day engaging in social activity, but that said,  they spend about 20 hours of the day asleep to compensate for their poor diets. I captured this little cutie having a yawn.
Playtime for the Californian Sealions!

During my day at Beauval, I also took in some of the talks and shows. The Californian Sealion show was especially fab! I enjoyed watching these very agile marine mammals playing with balls and balancing them on their noses and sliding down their ramp from their platform above the rocky outcrop. I was amazed to learn that a Sealion can actually outpace a man in a landrace! They may look quite clumsy but by using their fins they can propel themselves at quite some pace! but of course, we tend to associate them by their aquatic lifestyles. These amazing animals can reach speeds in water of up to 40 km an hour and dive to depths of almost 300 metres deep! That's as deep as the Eifel Tower! Feeding on Herring, Squid, and Sardines, these sea creatures need to consume 15% of their body weight per day to be able to maintain their body heat in the cold waters of North America where they reside.

Undewater Hippo taken with my mobile phone
One of the other animals I had been really looking forward to seeing was the Hippo! Though we have Hippos at both London Zoo and Whipsnade here in the UK, I mostly only see the Pygmy Hippos and they have often tended to be indoors on my visits. When I worked as a volunteer at my local zoo Drusilla's, one of my colleagues had taken a photo of a Hippo with its mouth open and I was awestruck by it! So naturally, I was really hoping for similar scenes. I wasn't disappointed! I had never seen Hippos swimming underwater either.

Capable of snapping a man in half! Hippo with open mouth!
When I had seen them at Whipsnade, their outside pen has muddy water which I know Hippos love, but at Beauval, they had a fantastic reserve for them. The "Reserve des Hippopotames" was specially created and allows viewing on three different levels with large windows. It comprises a terrestrial space and an aquatic space. Viewing can be seen underwater, at ground level and also above the reserve. Three  Hippos live at Beauval: A male called Kvido and two females called Kiwi and Bolinas. They share their habitat with other animals also from Africa such as Nyalas, Bush pigs, Ibises and Spoonbills. It really is a fab place to wander about!

I would love to go back and visit Zooparc De Beauval again and at present, I keep myself up to date with the latest news via their website, FB page, and other social media sites.

A day just really wasn't long enough so watch this space for future visits!!!

If you'd like to read about more of my adventures and find out other places I have visited, you can follow me by clicking on the follow button on the right of my blog page.

Thanks for your interest and catch up again soon!































Wednesday 28 November 2018

Boating and Beagles!!!! - An invitation to a Book Launch!

"Hello Fiona, It's Alison Alderton, I wondered if you might be interested in coming to a special event in Chichester on 4th October 2018? It Involves Beagles and Boats!!!" Well, of course, being the Animal lover I am, and up for an adventure,  I said yes! 

I had been friends with Alison on Facebook for some time though we'd never actually met before, there being a distance of just a few miles between her home in Denmark and mine on the South East Coast of England. Alison had been a member of the photography group I run and so I knew we shared an interest in photography. I had also been following her story as she went about trying to get her first book published, "Boating With Buster: The Life and Times of a Barge Beagle". Little did I know at the time that I would be fortunate enough to play a small part in her journey.

Alison had kindly given me the opportunity to come along and photograph her Book Launch. I was very excited, though admittedly a little nervous as this was to be the first proper commissioned job I had undertaken as a photographer. Together, with my friend and fellow photographer Gareth, we ventured forth on our way to Chichester. This is how I got to meet such a wonderful lady and her lovely family too!

Alison with her Book
Chichester Canal Basin
Arriving at the Chichester Canal Centre at 11am, I was greeted by a lady wearing a top covered in Beagles. "Ahhh, this has to be the star of the show herself, Alison!" Gareth and I were introduced to her husband Roger and their current canine companion, Maksi. We were given a brief tour around the centre by host Ian Milton from the Chichester Ship Canal Trust and made to feel very welcome with hot drinks in the upper seating area of the Heritage Centre's cafe. At this point, we were introduced to Alison's parents and realized it was a very special day for Alison's dad too as he was celebrating his 82nd birthday!
Alison with her mum, dad, and husband Roger

Boating with Buster
As the book launch itself was due to be taking place around midday, I had wanted to take a few photographs before Alison got too busy. The Canal basin is situated in such a lovely location and made for a nice backdrop to some of the photos I took there.

Alison had spent her early life growing up not far from the Chichester Canal basin, her family home being in Rose Green, Bognor Regis. The Chichester Canal basin, therefore, has special meaning to Alison and her family so it was nice for the family to be able to use the location to mark such a special day!

Alison & Janet Richardson unveil the book
About 25 to 30 people turned up for the event which began with a beautiful 2-hour cruise along the Chichester Canal. Boarding the boat, "Richmond", we set off at 12.30pm. I was introduced to Janet Richardson, editor of Towpath Talk. She gave a brief talk on board before officially untying the ribbon to the book as we departed the basin.

Roger then proceeded to read a few excerpts from the book and gave us all an insight into the funny and often mischievous antics that Buster would get himself into! Having now started to read my own copy of the book, I can easily imagine what a little boisterous boy Buster was!

I learned of the time that Alison and Roger discovered for the first time whether their dog could swim or not! how funny a tale that was! In true "Buster style", he had been attempting to chase a black and white collie, the dog being on the towpath and Buster on the barge. After some time of trying to keep up with the collie it appeared that whilst the collie was safely on firm ground on the towpath, Buster had met with a loud thud to find himself in the water! splash!!! oopsie!!! Roger, having jumped in to rescue the bundle of trouble, tried to encourage Buster to swim towards him. Well, I won't spoil it for those of you who would like to read the book for yourselves, but yes, it did make me chuckle!!!!
Alison, Roger & Maksi

A guest with their tea towel



Buster had shared Alison's heart and home for 12 years, having travelled thousands of miles on the UK waterways as well as visiting Ireland and Europe. He had visited 10 countries in all!  After Buster's sad parting in  2015, she felt the need to publish her adventures with her "Admiral" as he became well known as.  Today marked a momentous occasion having taken her 3 years to reach the stage of getting her book published.


Enjoying Fish and Chips on the canal
We enjoyed a nice fish and chip lunch while cruising along the canal. Guests had also been given a goodie bag which consisted of a beautiful tea towel with the slogan "I've been boating with Buster", a bookmark and postcard and some rock.




Alison, Roger & Maksi on Richmond
Maksi sniffing the air
A short while after lunch, we stopped in a beautiful spot along the river. Roger took Maksi for a short walk along the towpath and Gareth also hopped off and took a few photos as we later continued our cruise along the canal. Maksi seemed to be following very nicely in the footsteps of his predecessor Buster, as he wore his bright orange life vest. I managed to capture him in that typical Beagle pose with his nose high in the air giving it a good sniff for interesting smells! Maksi came to join the family aged just 10 weeks old in October 2015 and has already travelled many of Denmark's waterways and has also been to other countries too.

Alison signing her book
reunited after 35 years!
At about 2.30pm we were back at the heritage centre disembarking the Richmond. A few more guests had arrived and we had some more refreshments as Alison prepared to start signing her book. The occasion was made all the more special as one of Alison's old friends whom she hadn't seen for over 35 years made a very special effort of being present at the book signing. Emotions naturally ran high!

Roger read a few more short clips from the book and by about 4pm the afternoon came to a close as the last of the guests dropped in to buy their copy of Boating with Buster, including some more of Alison's family and friends.

I had had a wonderful day and got to meet some really interesting folk! I enjoyed my trip along the canal and being able to give Maksi lots of cuddles too!

If you would like to find out more about Alison, you can take a look at her website Alison Alderton where you can also purchase your own copy of her book if you would like to.

I hope you've enjoyed following me along the Chichester Canal and look forward to catching up with you all on my next blogspot!







Friday 23 November 2018

Goofy Giraffe's, Splashing Sealions and Tussling Tigers!!! - A day at Banham Zoo



"Errr, Gareth, how do you fancy a couple of extra house guests for a couple of nights?" I asked my bestie. Gareth lives in Essex, an ideal halfway stop off point for me to use to break up my journeys when fulfilling my quest for different zoos around the country.  Living on the South East coast means many zoos are too far to do in a day!!! But with my bestie.......

"They have lots of babies there at the moment! I'd really really love to try and see the young Red Panda cub especially! Not to mention the Otter cubs and baby Sealion", I continued! "

And so I set off on a 2 stage journey to Norfolk! Destination Banham Zoo. Safe in the knowledge that my little Mr four paws, Benji my sheltie, would be well looked after too.

Setting off at around 7.30am on Monday morning, 19th November 2018, I made my way to Banham travelling through some beautiful country. As I passed Elveden Forest it bought back happy memories of times when I had taken my children there. Now almost adults, they lead independent lives!

Arriving just after opening time at 9.30am, I parked up and purchased my ticket. First stop had to be the Red Pandas! And quite conveniently the Asian Short-clawed Otters were positioned right next door! I had been to Banham once before and not so long ago when I visited for the first time with my mother back in August. We had been staying at Great Yarmouth at the time. I had a vague recollection of the layout of the zoo.

I didn't see any action by the Red Panda enclosure so went next door to the Otters. What a contrast! I had been told by one of the members of a facebook animal photography group I belong to that the Otters get fed first thing and there would be a good chance of seeing the baby cubs! And low and behold, as soon I approached, I could see, one, two, three, no four bundles of brown squeakiness coming towards me. "Sorry buddies, I'm not your keeper!" They were so excited, me being the only person there at that time. They thought I was going to feed them! 

There were two otter cubs, both males, born to mum Tilly and dad Sam on 19th July 2018. This is their first litter.  I could definitely make out the runt of the litter! Otters have always been my favourite animal and naturally, I spent quite some time watching them! This is the smallest of the litter here, above. It was great seeing the youngster playing with this ball! The Cubs haven't been named as yet but are both doing well!

The Asian Short-clawed Otter is one of three species of clawless otter and is the smallest of all Otter species. Cubs aren't born with the ability to swim and need to be taught this by their parents. By all accounts mum and dad had been doing a fine job of this as at 4 months of age now, they were just loving their time in the water! They were so hyper, they kept me on my toes trying to get photos of them!!!! Constantly on the move!!! 

There was still some time to go until feeding time for the otters so I decided to take a little walk through the Flamingo enclosure. The enclosure is in a lovely location and serves as a kind of walkthrough. It's a nice size and able to accommodate quite a few of the Chilean Flamingoes in it housing about 40 birds. I learned during my time working as a volunteer at my local zoo that Flamingoes will only breed if they are kept as a large group. Failing that, the use of mirrors was brought in to give the flamingoes the idea of being within a large group! But thankfully at Banham, no mirrors were needed! One of the things that I really love about these birds is their colourful feathers. 

Chilean Flamingoes give birth to just one egg which both parents will incubate. At birth the chick is grey or white in colour and takes one to two years to adopt the more traditional pink coat we tend to associate with flamingoes. The pink colouration comes from carotenoid pigments found in their food. This bird here, above, hasn't yet acquired its full adult coat. A fascinating piece of information I recently learned is that chicks are also born with a straight beak!!! This doesn't form a full curve until around 3 months of age. Their shaped beaks are specially adapted for their dietary lifestyle of filter feeding on microscopic plant life and small animals found on mud or in the water. Chilean Flamingoes can be identified by their grey legs with pink joints. 
I went back to have a look to see if there was any sign of the Red Pandas, but nothing as yet. I positioned myself back with my beloved little squeaky critters and waited for the otter feed and talk. This had to be one of the quietest zoo days I have ever known! usually, despite the time of year I go or where I head to, there are often lots of school children about, but today with only about 3 or 4 of us around the Otters, the talk didn't last long. I caught a glimpse of one of the adults basking in the sun! 

After the talk, I asked the keeper about the baby Red Panda cub and the best time of day to try to see it. I was in for some disappointing news! sadly the cub had fallen out of the tree the day before and sustained an injury so was currently off-show with mum. Dad Jasper was still in the enclosure but there was no sign of his whereabouts! Having travelled all that way primarily to see the baby Red Panda cub, it wasn't going to be happening today! my main concern though at this point was for the well being of the little cub! 
I followed the keeper round to the Meerkats as she gave them their munchies. If I thought the Otter cubs had been hyper, that was nothing in comparison to the baby Meerkats! The mob was continually on the move scurrying under muddied twigs and leaves for the yummiest of things to eat, dad keeping a watchful lookout high up on a promontory within the enclosure.

I decided to try and take in some more of the keeper talks and shows etc.
Walking past the Camels in the central part of the zoo, I thought it made for a nice photo seeing two of the Camels standing next to one another. In March this year, Banham celebrated the birth of a male camel, later to be named Sopwith, after an RAF World War biplane, The Sopwith Camel! This name had been chosen by a young 3-year old granddaughter of an ex-serviceman. Whilst I did see the youngster, offspring to mum Lucy, and dad Genghis (Now residing at another zoo), I didn't get any photos of him.
I made my way over to the Californian Sealions in preparation for the talk and show. As I stood there waiting, I noticed one of the mammals in the water playing with what looked like a black plastic pot or tub of sorts. Flicking it up in the air, making a lot of splashes as it did so! "Wow, now wouldn't that be awesome to try and capture on camera", I thought to myself! This Sealion continued to play for some time with this object, later to be joined by other members of the group. This had to be one of the highlights of the day for me! I was transfixed to the spot!!!! 

I was so engrossed by watching the Sealions playing with their toys that I hadn't really been taking in much of what was being said at the talk when it did start, though I did see the keepers ask the animals to perform porpoising, a streamlined motion performed by the animals in which they will rise above the water and then submerge below it. I also heard the keepers explaining why they asked the animals to do certain things like raising their flippers etc, checking their mouths and fur etc. By incorporating checks like this into their normal daily routine, the keepers are easily able to check on the health and wellbeing of their animals. Also, if a vet is needed, the animal won't be under any undue stress being asked to perform these routine tasks and medication etc can be administered without upsetting the animal too much. The one thing I wish I had listened more about though was what their names were! Thankfully, I've since been able to look this up on getting back home! 
Sealion Bay is a fairly new exhibit and caters for 6 resident Californian Sealions: 2 males (Emmett and Elmo) and 4 females (Gala, Filippa, Ineke, and Dora). With the exception of newest arrival Dora, born to mum Filipa in June this year, all the other Sealions arrived at the zoo in either February or March this year having come from either Blackpool Zoo or other European Zoos. The adults comprise of Filipa, Gala, and Elmo,  Gala being Filippa's offspring from a previous season. The juveniles are Emmet, Inneke and young Dora. 

How could I not have noticed young Dora sitting on her favourite rock as I first approached the poolside arena? It wasn't until the keepers pointed her out during the talk that I became aware she was there! and what a cute little Sealion she is! She didn't take part in the show as such as the keepers explained that she was too young. However, after the talk, what was wonderful was seeing one of the keepers doing some touch nose training with her. I had seen this done before now with the Otters at Wingham Wildlife Park so I was a little familiar with it. The keeper will use a long pole with a rounded ball on the end of it and try to encourage the animal to touch the ball with their nose using cue words and rewarding the behaviour with a treat of sorts, food orientated. I had to chuckle when I saw who was next to the pole! Looked like Christmas had come early at Banham! Dora decided to be like a kiddies famous cartoon character, "Dora the Explorer", and do some exploring of her own! 

My next stop was South Africa, or rather, a visit to one of the native small feathered animals that come from there, The Black-Footed Penguins. If it had been South Africa, the temperatures would have been somewhat warmer than the 6 degrees or so it was over here in East Anglia! Entering the enclosure, I saw some Spoonbills nesting in a tree. Such strange looking birds but beautiful all the same! This was one of the smaller Penguin enclosures I have seen on my zoo visits however the penguins seemed perfectly happy! There were a few penguins in nest boxes which was a nice sight to see! 

I Joked with them and asked them to move over and make way for me in there with them! I have a tendency to be quite susceptible to the colder weather and while 6 degrees may not be cold to some, I was just starting to get a bit chilly!!!! Time for a warm up in the Pavillion Cafe with a nice mug of hot chocolate I thought to myself! 

Well, I didn't quite the big mug as such as it was a self-service machine with a polystyrene cup so I decided to drink and go so to speak. This proved rather interesting as I approached the Zebra! Typically I just didn't have enough hands!!!! I could see some exciting action going on as one of the Zebras was doing that classically funny lip snarling motion of raising its lips. I searched for somewhere to place my cup while trying not to miss the moment! Too late! The Zebra then went on to roll around on the ground!!!! .... oh well, I may have missed those shots but it sure was a good cup of hot chocolate! lol, I'm sure the Zebra enjoyed a good laugh though "ha, missed us!" I took the opportunity though to take a few shots when I had finally found somewhere to position my hot cup! 

From Africa to Australia, I made my way to the Kangaroo paddock. This is always an exciting moment for me at zoos where they keep Kangaroos as so few British Zoos seem to keep them, tending to opt for the smaller Wallabies. "mmmm, that's a lot of noise coming from the paddock but no signs of the Roos!" i thought to myself. The kerfuffle became apparent as I soon saw a relentless male Emu chasing a female around the paddock. These males and their raging hormones! lol, I would have to try to find the Roos later on in the day and hope they would be out!!!

Another animal at Banham that I don't often see in Zoos is the Maned Wolf. This canine is such a beautiful animal! With their very long legs and slim body, it reminded me very much of my sheltie Benji as a 7-month-old pup. At that stage of his development, he was just a bundle of legs and not much else! Banham has two Maned Wolves. The name is a bit of a misnomer though as they aren't actually Wolves! and whilst they may look like foxes, they're not members of the fox family either! 
Foxes have very distinctive  Elliptical eyes which the Maned Wolf does not have. They are in fact placed within their own genus, Chrysocyon meaning "Golden Dog". They are the only species within this genus. These animals are the largest of the canids and are native to South America. On first arriving at the enclosure, I thought that one of the animals was almost being paid to pose for me! I got some really lovely captures! and then as every hobbyist photographer will no doubt have experienced, animals can be unpredictable! It was a case of the animal being photobombed by a sprig of Oak leaves! The action was happening way too fast for me to reposition myself and despite trying to will the animal to move slightly to one side, it wasn't going to listen to me!!!! So, whilst I could attempt to clone out the oak leaves, later on with some post-shoot editing, I have left it in as I think it's quite quirky and helps tell a story, which is after all what photography is all about!!! Just check out those toothypegs!!!!

I continued on up the pathway and said hello to some of the birds of prey. Sam the Bald Eagle had been sitting out in the sunshine but I had been distracted by the noisy cacophony being made by the Blue and Gold Macaws whom I ventured over to see first. When I returned, Sam had gone back inside!!!! As for the Owls, the majority of them just slept!!!!

"mm, this is odd, I thought to myself!" I had made my way to the Giraffe walkway for the talk at 1.15pm and had arrived early as well! But there was no one there! ..... "I'm sure the keeper talk was here last time I visited!" I could see though that the platform that had been used last time was being dismantled and a worker was on site. I asked where the talk was taking place and made my way through the house which I hadn't been in before, down the stairs and round the back of the Giraffe house. I'm so glad I didn't miss the talk as this proved to be such a comical moment and another real highlight of my day!!!

Banham have 3 Giraffes: 2 females who are sisters called Aileen and Fiona (Yes, I have a giraffe sharing my name!!!!) and a male called Max. I think this is Max here enjoying licking the fence post. During the talk, he wasn't interested in receiving food from the bucket being handed out by the keeper. He carried on licking the post! 

In case you're wondering why I chose the name of "Goofy Giraffes" for part of the title, well that would be down to Fiona! had to be! of course! lol So with the usual feeding platform being rebuilt, the keeper talk meant that the giraffes weren't being fed up high like they usually are. So, whereas Aileen has very efficiently mastered the art of popping her head "Over" the fence to reach the keeper's hand and get lots of yummy food, "Goofy" Fiona just couldn't quite fathom this out! "But I want to stick my tongue out THROUGH the bars she kept saying to herself!" Time after time I could hear the keeper trying to encourage her to place her head over the top as Aileen was doing. The keeper went on to explain that Fiona was being discouraged from putting her tongue through the fence (i.e. not being given food) as the fence had the potential to be a bit rough in places so they are trying to promote going up and over as her sister was doing.

That said, the tongue of a giraffe is very well equipped to cope with the toughest of things! They have the ability to extend their tongue out up to 45cm, easily stripping a tree of it's juiciest of leaves. Their favourite food source being Acacia! And one of my favourite anecdotes of the classic "Red Queen hypothesis" can be demonstrated using the Giraffe and the Acacia tree as a prime example. 

So what does the Red Queen hypothesis mean? It's an evolutionary term that means that organisms must continually evolve, adapt and proliferate to gain the upper hand when it's come to not only reproductive advantage but also the capability to survive in an ever-changing environment in which organisms are ever-evolving mechanisms to counteract this. 

In the wilds of Africa, Giraffes can eat as much as 29kg of Acacia leaves and twigs per day!!! The Acacia trees, therefore, evolved over time a mechanism to try to counteract this, spiky thorns up to 8 - 10cm long! But the giraffes with their super long prehensile tongues, tough lips and palates can  navigate their way through this barrage of spikes and thorns, so it seems the giraffes have won!!!! or have they? and so in the great arms race for survival, the plants had to evolve their counter-attack! 
They did this by means of production of a chemical substance called a Tannin. This substance not only tastes foul to a Giraffe but also inhibits digestion. And the really clever thing about this Tannin production is that once the tree deems its perimeter breached, it can send out signals to trees within a 50m radius. This keeps the giraffes constantly on the move for trees that haven't yet started to release the tannin. So maybe the Giraffe hasn't won after all? Did you know that a Giraffe also has a very dark tongue? This is thought to protect it from the sun out in it's native Africa. 
I was very pleased when Fiona finally realized the error of her ways and that she needed to lean "over" the fence. This is one of my favourite moments seeing the two girls being fed by the keeper,  however, it didn't last long!  It appears that Aileen is something of a greedy guts! She is the Giraffe on the left here, Fiona being the Giraffe on the right. Before long, Aileen started to use her neck in that ever so typical way giraffe's use their head for combat and tried to scurry her out the way!!!! I really did feel for Fiona, having finally found out how to get the food, to then be bossed about by Aileen!!!!  

As the Keeper gave the last of the food in the buckets to the girls, I started to make my way out of the Giraffe area. Walking towards the Llamas, my eye caught a flickering streak of Green with red, white, yellow and black. I knew instantly that it had been a Green Woodpecker I had just disturbed. It had been positioned on a tree not far from me when it abruptly flew off. I was sooooo excited and messaged my friend Gareth straight away to tell him! He's very into his birds so I knew he would be somewhat jealous! 

The llama seemed to greet me with a mouthful of teeth and very big teeth at that!!!! I decided to leave them to their hay! 

"Yay, they're out now!" I thought to myself as I approached the Kangaroos again. The relentless male Emu was still being very vocal and hadn't given up on chasing the female but at least it seemed that the sun had brought the Roos out of their indoor house! 




Walking past the Snow Leopards, I noticed that the female was now out in the enclosure. Enif was enjoying lying outside perched on a rock. She and handsome male Rocky have been at Banham since 2008 and have had a couple of litters together. They had 3 cubs back in 2010, one of the litter, Ziva having gone to Howlett's Zoo in 2011. Ziva is now paired up with a male called Nuri and it is hoped that they will have cubs of their own before too long. Another from the litter, Margaash, went to Dudley Zoo where he fathered a male cub, Makalu. Rocky and Enif's second litter was born a couple of years later. Enif gave birth to 2 cubs but sadly only one survived. With numbers as low as between 4,000 - 6,500 animals left in the wild, zoos are playing a vital role in helping to conserve this, as well as many other endangered species. It is very much hoped that Makalu will produce offspring which will themselves be returned to the Himalayas. He now resides in a zoo in Darjeeling.

I had been on my way to see the Cheetah talk when I noticed Enif sitting outside and I was mesmerized by her beauty! I couldn't steal myself away! I headed to the Cheetah's and caught a glimpse of this gorgeous cat glancing over her shoulder, but I missed the talk itself. I tend to use them as a rough guide and often will do my own thing anyway. I grabbed a yummy Pulled Pork and coleslaw sarnie from the pavilion cafe and this time I decided to sit down and eat rather than munch on the hoof! 

Refuelled, I anticipated my next animals to go in search of. I decided not to see the birds of prey display this time, though I had seen it on my previous visit and have to say it was absolutely fantastic. The chap that did the show was so knowledgeable and clearly passionate about what he does! I went in search of Tigers! and I was not disappointed!!!!! They were certainly very active!!!

Amur Tigers are one of 9 subspecies of Tigers, sadly 3 of which are now extinct. They are the largest of all the Big Cats. Residing primarily in Russia, these Felines face persecution from hunters seeking to use their fur coats or other body parts in oriental medicines, as well as habitat loss. Numbers are thought to be as critically low as only 250 adults left in the wild! This is heart-breaking!!! 





Banham Zoo has two Siberian or Amur Tigers as they are often known as. Male tiger Kuzma and female Sveta. They are a breeding pair, both aged 10 years of age. Kuzma was born at Banham in 2008 whereas his mate Sveta came from Lisbon. Kuzma is ranked as an incredibly important breeding male as his genes are very under-represented within the captive population. 
  In 2013 Sveta gave birth to two cubs. Both cubs were female, named Xenia and Yeva and have now become part of the European Zoos breeding programme. 

Watching Kuzma and Sveta tussling one another was incredible! I started watching from one viewing point as they started to interact together. I then relocated to one of the other viewing windows to try and get a closer look. Typically there was foliage and other obstructions shielding my view but it was wonderful to be so close to these magnificent big cats! Until this day, I had only ever seen the two boys at Wingham play fighting, Blade and Troy. I stood watching for some time as male and female raised paws, growled at one another and gave chase! Yes, without doubt, this was to be another real highlight of my day!

AS I left the Tiger's, I realized I had been so enthralled watching them that I hadn't been into to see the Linhe's Two-toed Sloth or the Lemur walkthrough. Sadly these parts of the zoo had now closed! I had also run out of time to go and revisit the baby Spider Monkey just a few days old. I did get a brief glimpse of it earlier in the day but it was nestled right under mum's arms, just tiny little eyes and a nose peering out! Photographing this gorgeous scene before me was nigh impossible!!

However, having eluded me all day, by positioning up against the fence, I finally got my opportunity to get some nice photos of the Sri Lankan Leopard. 

I couldn't tell if there if there were one or two Leopards in there as I only got to see one but I suspect there are two. Banham was very successful in announcing the birth of 2 cubs last year. Yala and Nimala were born to mum Sariska and dad Mias. I was happy to see this beautiful cat basking in the sunshine! Such stunning markings!!!


As 4pm approached and the zoo was starting to shut down, I felt the pitter patter of raindrops. I'd had a wonderful day here at Banham and learned so much! It looks like I'll need to gatecrash my friend's for another night though sometime in the future as Banham will be beckoning to me again before too long! Besides which, I still haven't seen the Red Panda cub!!!!