The only way to *really* see the zoo

Yeah, I know. "Oh, boy, the zoo. Everyone's been to the zoo. Blah, blah, blah." Kinda like going to Casa Bonita (for those of you who are not familiar with Denver and the local joke, when you have company from out of town you see the mountains, the zoo and Casa Bonita ). But Blake found a way to see the zoo without the heat, the crowd and the noise. He found info on the Denver Zoo's website about a photography opportunity where you bring along your camera and have pretty much full access to the zoo for really cool pictures. And it's early morning, 7 am, so the lighting is diffused and the light/dark contrasts are much greater. And, when we went, there were only 18 other people! Can you imagine all the animals you hear when there are only a handful of people in the park?! Blake was my camera caddy for the morning, toting around the tripod, the telephoto & wide-angle lenses... he was a trooper! Thanks, Honey, for lugging all that around while I got to have fun! Here are the fruits of my labor (and Blakey's):

Yipes! Stripes!

Mountain Goat... I can only assume this one's a teenager...

The lonely life of a Hobo Peacock.

A Flamboyant Flamingo!

See the chick? Normally, the zookeepers raise chicks, but I guess they experimented with this little guy; he gets to live with his momma! He's about a week old here.

Caught a pelican in a "reflective" moment.

Chester

Hyacinth Macaw

Red-Tailed Hawk

We went inside to get some aquarium pics... here's one of my favorites!

If I didn't put in a Bald Eagle, Blake would be very put-out.
(Ignore big stupid stick- I asked the eagle if he would move where I could take a better pic of him but he laughed at me)

And, for the Grand Finale, the rare and reclusive...
Atrum Bene Blakeus.