Reid Park Zoo - 2010

Almost two years ago was my last trip to Arizona. Once place that I like in Tucson (so many of them are gone these days) is the Reid Park Zoo. It's an odd little zoo that is trying to be bigger than it is, while still strongly appealing to children and relatively educated grandparents. Arizona's use as a retirement state creates that tendency. The zoo is crammed into a park and is prevented from expansion, so they do interesting things to make it not seem cramped. However, it's Arizona, so the traditional methods of using lots of fast-growing trees and bamboo isn't as useful, as those are water-intensive. However, when you look at how much space it actually takes up and how it feels when you're there, it's quite impressive.

This the tail end of a much longer photoshoot, as this is where I went to get shots of the maribou stork, which was requested by a publisher. It is, however, the set with the largest biodiversity.

The set is here, but be warned, it has photos of a heron eating raw fishbits and they look nothing like sushi.

Here is my favorite:

Biologically, I like the fact that I got anteater tongue. (Much harder than you'd think.) Photographically, I like how both the anteater and the shadow are in good focus, and make you think of the animal in a different way than usual.

( Highlights )