My Birthday

My birthday was March 16th. For the past 6 years, I've participated in the Gate River Run. It's a 15k road race and it's become a tradition for me. I use it as an excuse to stay in shape or not let myself get too overweight again. It's always been on or near my birthday weekend so it is my little celebration for me.

I also wanted to do something with friends. Holly was able to, at the last minute, register and run the River Run but I also wanted to go to the zoo. There was a new tiger exhibit that opened and I was excited to see. They also had the butterfly exhibit that I enjoy. The thing about the zoo is that the availability was only for Saturday after the race. We decided to go for it anyway thinking we wouldn't be too tired.

When we arrived, alarms immediately went off because we had to park in the entrance. Not near the entrance but literally on the road that leads into the parking lot of the zoo. The line to the ticket counter was long and it was warm.

Since we were going to be there for a while, I started shooting. Reflections off Holly's glasses.

More reflections. I cropped this one. Just because.

Once we finally got into the zoo, the first thing I saw was a squirrel.

We met up with Joanna and Jacob and they were excited to see us.

See the excitement?

Holly next to a Holly tree. Inception

At some point I will own a proper macro lens. I like it.

I saw this kid checking out the koi fish.

Another flower and a close up.

 I wasn't the only one getting macro/close ups of the flowers.

Such nice flowers to shoot.

As mentioned, the butterfly exhibit is one of my favorite things. It's setup like a fantasy world with butterflies all over the place. It's magical. Although there is a soundtrack that has a creepy kids laugh...

It's fun to follow the butterflies until they land somewhere and then get macros of them before they take off again. Apparently they get pretty beat up in there. This guy looks rough.

Butterfly butterflying

Along with the house on the mushrooms a few above this one, this is one of my favorites. I like how it almost looks like it's a scene somewhere but it's really just a small water fall in the butterfly exhibit.

A bench, a Holly. A stare into the distance. A piece of art.

Once done at the butterfly place, I saw this and thought it'd make for a cool photo. I wanted to push the button.

Making our way to the tiger exhibit, we saw these guys but they kept avoiding humans. They eventually stayed in view long enough to photograph.

Finally we made it to the new exhibit. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately the tigers were hiding out from the sun. As mentioned from the get go, it was pretty warm.

We were happy having seen the tigers

Monkeys always freak me out a little. They look so human-like.

This thing is hideous. Sorry.

It took me a while to get this guy in focus but I felt accomplished when I finally did. He/she was buzzing around for a good 5-10 mins.

These two were mating. I got there just after they did.. haha, get it?

I think they're going to be there for a while...

I hear the Miami Vice theme song when I see this even though I know this is not a flamingo.

I spent a while shooting this one eyed pelican. He kept flapping wildly.

Unfortunately, my shutter speed was low, 1/60, and they were mostly blurred. I'm such a noob.

Last image. Probably my favorite. I mentioned monkeys kind of freak me out. The same goes for primates. This one looks so human. She looks like she is tired from a long day. I think it's a she. Point is, I can relate.

We had a great day at the Jacksonville Zoo. They continue to improve it. The quality of the exhibits is great and the access and view to the animals is superb. I always enjoy it. The full Birthday Zoo set is over on Flickr.