Doogs & Littlewid's London Zoo Trip

What a fantastic day at ZSL London Zoo Doogs and I had yesterday. Apart from actually catching up with Doogs in person, which was fantastic, the day at the zoo was just fabulous.
This post is for both of us to post our pictures and memories of the day. I can tell you that if I remember right we got to the zoo at about 10ish and left at 5.30 and apart from about 30mins for lunch we were on the go all day.......and where did that time go, it just flew by in a flash but we got to see all that we wanted to see apart from the tiger cubs. We went back about 5 times to try and see them but they hadn't/didn't come out which was a real shame. One very keen chap had been standing there from 10am until we last saw him about 5.15 in the hope of seeing them. However we did both get some stunning photo's of Dad and I will post some later. I am sure we will both post little stories with our pics but I do know we were both really excited about going and seeing the Gorillas as we both have such a passion for them. For me it was such an experience and they did make my heart flutter, so much so that when I was taking my first set of pictures I didn't realise my camera was actually on video as well so not only do I have some nice pictures I found I had a great little video. So never having had a youtube account before I opened one and loaded my video and I have posted it on here as a little taster for our day out.......if you listen carefully you can hear a Scottish accent that belongs to our one and only Doogs. I hope you like the video, I did as it was a complete surprise to me as I didn't know I had it until I downloaded my pictures.
In the video, Mujukuu is the smaller female with the slimmer face, Effie is the larger of the females in the video and Kumbuka is the glorious male silverback and he has been mating with both girls. Mujukuu is the female who was pregnant in the series of the zoo by the silverback who sadly died. Unfortunately Mujukuu gave birth but the replacement silverback killed the baby, we didn't find out why but I can only presume it was because it wasn't his. It seems that the silverback has gone else where and has been replaced by Kumbuka and they are hoping there will be another baby soon. There is another female, Zaire who is 39 and she is actually Kumbuka's grandmother and apparently he has been mating her as well but on speaking with the volunteer we were all coming to the conclusion that she was probably too old to conceive which is why the zoo must not be too concerned about the mating.
I am sure Doogs will tell you about Zaire's little fancy, it's cute and if she had spotted Doogs she could have been Zaire's fancy that day   
More later from me.



littlewid-x-

One of our main hopes was to see Melati and her cubs on Sunday but sadly she didn't come out. She has a fairly large enclosure but the den is a little way off and she has to come through a walkway. When we got there, we were told that when it warmed up, possibly in the afternoon, she would bring the cubs out but there was no sighting of Melati and the cubs at all. One very determined chap was there from 10am until we left at 5.30, he was just waiting for a glimpse of them. He had seen them last week when it was raining and managed a few photo's but he too was hoping for a much better sighting, but Sunday was not the day.
However, we did get to see dad, Jae Jae and what a stunning Tiger he is. Jae Jae was born in 2008 in San Francisco Zoo and moved to ZSL London in 2012 and he is just spectacular. He has a heated rock and this is where we first saw him sleeping........as big cats do so often.

His rock is heated and he also has a blanket on it and he was well away with his head in the sunshine.

But every cat has to wake up sometime


( I can't believe I managed to get 2 yawns   )
Here is the stunning Jae Jae wide awake



Typical big cat though, he soon went back to sleep

I know Doogs has some really stunning photo's and we both did well because these are obviously through glass and we were at times jostling for position, he was proving very popular to capture. More on Jae Jae later.
littlewid-x-

Littlewid, thank you soooo much for the pictures of Jae Jae. He really is amazing!

What a shame you did not see the cubs, but that's how it goes sometimes! (Guess how many times last year I saw only a part of a tiny head or tail at the very far end of the snowies' enclosure...)

I also enjoyed reading about the gorillas very much!

Looking forward to see more your and Doogs pictures...

CC

 LW, Kumbuka is a really impressive Silverback, I remember the original Silverback who died in the series, it was really sad, and the staff were so upset, after doing so much to try to save him, it's also so sad the the baby was killed as well by the replacement Silverback as well. Hopefully Kumbuka will good with the females, and any new babies. I was watching a programme on Gorillas the other night, where the new Silverback was try to mate with its grandmother who was 37yrs old, and although she wasn't having any of it, they said female Gorillas become infertile around 35yrs old. Great little video LW as it was a surprise for you. I've deleted our two posts re You Tube, as the thread flows better, without them hope that's OK.

Stunning Photos of Jae Jae LW   as you know Tigers are my favourite big cat. He does look really comfortable on his heated rock, he's a big spoiled pussy cat   . A shame you didn't get to see the little ones, after trying so hard, but Jae Jae really makes up for it, so much so I've given one of them a WAA Frame Award, but it could have been any of them really



Looking forward to more of yours, and Doogs photos

WS

Thanks so much CC. It was a shame we didn't see Melati or the cubs but as you say, that's the way it goes sometimes but at least we were rewarded with Jae Jae and he is spectacular. I'm also glad you enjoyed reading about the Gorillas, Doogs and I have pictures of them that we will post, they are one of our favourite animals so it was just lovely to see them.

WS thanks for the WAA Frame Award, he looks so handsome there doesn't he and we both have some lovely photo's of him eating his dinner that will get posted soon. I know your as nutty about Tigers as I am so I thought you would love Jae Jae.
Zaire is 39 so she will not conceive so I suppose as long as she doesn't mind Kumbuka may still mate with her but he did have a scratch to his face so one of the girls must have told him off   

I will post more pictures tomorrow but for now I will post one of my other very favourite animals   



This is what he was looking at



More on the lovely Meerkats later   

littlewid-x-

  What a great day you both had, it sounds wonderful and I'm really enjoying the photos you've posted Littlewid.  I am still laughing about the video, well done you and so now you know how to do video   which I surely don't!

Jae Jae is magnificent and although it's a shame you didn't see the cubs he is truly gorgeous.  Can you imagine standing there all day waiting?       unless of course he lives just down the road and can visit weekly.

Doogs you are seriously busy, poor you and I hope you get some time to relax and look at your photos.

I loved the meerkat pic Littlewid.   They really are photogenic little creatures.

   for sharing and look forward to more .................   

Lai  

LW and Doogs, sounds as though you both had a great time at the zoo. Love the photos of the tiger especially him yawning. It always makes a great photo if you can anticipate when the yawn is coming!!!
Once you have managed one video the next one is always easier and like you my first one was more by accident than design and when you have got the hang of downloading to Youtube it becomes a lot simpler. You will now have to try editing and adding music!!!
I know meerkats are supposed to be quite intelligent but I did not realise they went in for plane spotting!! He will be able to tell his mates that he saw a BA 747!!
Looking forward to more pics of your day out.

SM

Thanks Lai and Safariman, glad you are liking the photo's, i'm sure if they were tweaked they would look better but i'm posting them in the raw so to speak   

Safariman these must be intelligent Meerkats for sure. they are in a wonderful enclosure with beautiful trees and of course they are totally safe, unless a bird of prey fly's over them but it was so comical to see when the plane flew over, they were all busy digging for something to eat and lots of the little ones were just going mad with rolling over and playing which meant it was so hard to capture them, they are so quick but when the plane flew over head, the ones that were on centaury duty looked up to the heavens whilst the ones  who were feeding and playing all ran to the centre of the enclosure, so even planes must be seen as the enemy.
Editing and adding music to videos will be fun Safariman but first I need to know I have videoed    but seriously I am planning on trying to video knowing that I am videoing and then trying to have a go at music etc........may take me a while though, i'm not very techy   
There were some Otters there as well and I think Doogs has better pictures than me but we went to the talk and to see them feeding. I had to get over this because they feed them mice and apart from seeing them in their pond you cold also see through the glass to the bottom at the side and see them scooping up the mice that had floated to the bottom. Anyway, getting over that, they are just so beautiful, heres just a couple of my best pics of them.






little mouse hanging out the bottom of that log   

I will post some more tomorrow, I have been sorting some pics for work this evening and its taken a bit of time.

littlewid-x-

  for sharing those lovely otter photos Littlewid. I know it's hard to see feeding times but it's part of life and I never find it easy either!

Lai   

Thanks for the Otter pics LW, I'm impressed you were really brave I know you don't like that sort of thing. Mountain Gorillas are also one of my all time favourite animals as well
WS

Lovely pics of the otters LW I am really impressed with the quality of the photos you are getting from your camera. Looking forward to seeing more!!!

SM

Lai the Otters are lovely and feeding time is often hard but it is real life so that I have to accept but I will never find it easy either.

Safariman thank you for your lovely comment. I am trying hard with my camera and I did have a bit of a fiddle with it at the zoo (not as much as my harbour postings) but I wanted to try and stick with what I knew I could do as I didn't want to mess up any shots otherwise I would have been mad with myself but I have been pretty chuffed with some of the shots I have got. I still have loads more to learn though.

WS I did feel pretty brave watching the feeding and keep a smile on my face. The children that were there were not bothered by it at all, to them it was just natural and fascinating......sometimes a kids eye view is best.

For all us Gorilla lovers here are some that I was taking when I didn't know I was videoing   
Mujukuu the smallest of the two females

Effie

Kumbuka





Mujukuu at the back and Effie in front

Effie


littlewid-x-

That's exactly the right way to practise with a camera LW, do what you know works with shots that are important to you, and your not going to get a second chance at. Try different settings on ones that are not so important to you, and that you can retake if you want, that's the proper way to learn new techniques, and what works, and what doesn't. The photos of Mujukuu, Effie, and Kumbuka are really good, thanks for sharing them

WS

  Littlewid, and thanks for sharing more of your lovely pics. I'm so pleased you're enjoying your camera. You might find some handy clips on youtube for your particular camera, that's what I'm doing at the moment, bite sized tutorials for my camera, it certainly helps and is easier than reading a manual   

Thanks for sharing your latest pics - those gorillas are superb   

Lai

So glad you are liking all the pictures guy's, i'm enjoying posting them and thanks for the tip about youtube Lai, little bits of info I can swallow and remember.

Doogs don't be sorry, I know you are really busy and your time is limited. This thread is always going to be here so you can add to it whenever you have time as you have different pics to me and you can never get enough animal pics, so don't worry. Thanks for the nice comment about doing well, I am trying hard with my camera but I did try and stick to what I knew at the zoo.....then again, if I messed up I would just have to go back again   

Now i'm going to post some pics of my lovely Jae Jae. He had just got his food from the top of his feeding pole, I think it's great that they make him work for his food. The food he had this day was Rabbit.......being a bunny lover I had to get over that too but at the end of the day Jae Jae had to eat and he did enjoy his lunch.
These first pics aren't very great as when he went up the pole he was up and down really quick and we weren't in the best position to capture it so I didn't have time to sort out filtering out the wire and zooming in, I just snapped so I could capture what I could see.

Going up for dinner

Got it

Down we come

Off we go

Once Jae Jae was down, Doogs and I ran round to a better spot where we could see him feeding. He had taken his lunch into some long grass to enjoy his dinner, this for me was quite good because you couldn't really see the rabbit but you can see that he is eating.










Looks like he is falling asleep here


Tomorrow I will post a few bird pictures that I have

littlewid-x-

   Thanks for posting your photos of Jae Jae Littlewid, he really is a very handsome tiger and those photos are lovely. It's good that they make him find his food rather than just throwing it to him.

Looking forward to the birds ..............   

Lai

  Great shots of Jae Jae LW, definitely no tweaking required with those, they show him off beautifully. That is really good that he has work for his food it's about making his life more interesting, and giving him some more quality of life than he would have if it was just thrown to him. Great tip by LAI to use You Tube for tutorials I use it a lot for all different kinds of things, like how to things on a PC, to doing things on the car. Don't know why I didn't put it on myself. Looking forward to your bird pics thanks for the photos of Jae Jae
WS