bug noir: Zoo, Zoo, Zoooooodles

What a day. I left for the Metro Toronto Zoo at about 8:00 a.m. That put me in line waiting for the gates to open at nine. I left as they were kicking people out of the park just after 7 p.m.

Six hundred and sixteen photos later (that's 15GB for those keeping track), I was left with one favorite shot and several neat ones. Today's post is large, if only to satisfy the part of my brain that thinks I should have had more winners. ;)

All shots below were taken with the 18-200mm, most on full manual. I'm finding I have a love-hate relationship with all modes other than manual. I know the camera is smarter than me at getting focus, etc. right, but then there are times where we just don't agree. On the bright side, I'm getting much faster on the controls.

Tomorrow is going to be a rough day.

Without further ado, the shots:

This is a 14-year-old Siberian Tiger, that has a fancy Russian name I can't spell. She was on the top of my list of targets for the day, and I was the first visitor to her enclosure. I woke her up with my camera (by accident, it's a freakin' TIGER), and got a few shots off.

She eventually went back to sleep, and I planned to return an hour or so later to Meet the Keeper.

This is her eating a quail in one bite during the Meet the Keeper session. She got a two quail snack, both in a paper bag she had to open herself. The last I saw, she saved the second one for later.

I tried to follow the Meet the Keeper schedule because I figured they were good value. The sun was already high in the sky and the day was getting hotter by the minute, sure to make the animals sleepy. Since Meet the Keeper sessions involve food for the animals, they perk up.

Of course, when you arrive early for the session, the animals are far from 'perked'.

Except for this guy, who felt it necessary to roll down a hill on the way to the session.

I got to the Grizzly enclosure early, too. It was pretty hot out.

The giraffes didn't seem to mind the heat so much. They have these tall, fake tree shade providers in their paddock.

The lion show wasn't as exciting as the last time I saw it. This one was a cub the last time I was at the zoo, although I didn't make a connection when I was taking the photo.

This one (same as last photo) is a male, although it looks like a female because he lacks a mane. Apparently the males not destined for a breeding program are fixed early on, and when that happens to a lion they don't generate enough testosterone to grow a proper mane.

One of my experimental photos from the day. While I was very tempted to jump in the water to cool off, the possibility of being eaten kept me from actually doing it. This was shot through the glass aquarium wall.

This shot reminded me of a lot of the people I saw struggling to get around the paths. Hippo butts!

And a Hippo tear. Do not ask for whom the Hippo cries, for he cries for us all.

Had to keep this one, despite all the reflection, because it reminded me of doing blowfishes on a window. Only this looks like a fish doing it. See? Irony.

Some hot action for those of you getting bored with this.

A fantastic through-glass shot. For some reason, I think the green helped cancel the effect of the glass because it made for very vivid images.

By the time I took this shot I was ready to push the lion aside so I could have a nap myself.

I couldn't for the life of me get a good angle on the ostrich. This was the best I could do.

This is the zoo's recently born baby zebra. They're born with brown stripes, apparently, that darken as they mature.

This guy's face was chewed up; he obviously got into something recently. The other rhino in the paddock had no marks on it, so maybe it was an inanimate object. It's probably not looking too good either.