8.08.2008

Where we conclude our trip to Dallas World Aquarium

Welcome back fellow Adventurers!

We'll begin our overland journey with this cute little fellow. I don't remember exactly what he is, but he was either a huge ham for the camera or really concerned we were going to take over his territory.



Nearby to him was this amazing view.



I love the manual settings on my camera.

Lets move on to our friends the flamingos.



I'm sure you all know why the Flamingo is pink right?



Near to the flamingos was this beautiful lady.



A Black Panther!* I thought she looked a bit like my Pandora. She remained asleep the entire time.

*this classification seems to be a bit like the great soda/pop debate. If I remember correctly, there was a bit of a...disagreement regarding the term "Panther" while we were looking at her. Here in N. America the term panther is used to refer to Cougars AKA Mountain Lions. In other parts of the world it is used synonymously with Leopard. Consequently, this was a Melanistic Leopard.

For those of you that I haven't bored to death, here is a funny little guy.



Note, I've referred to this turkeyish creature and the monkey as male when I really don't have any idea. I'm merely basing it on how aggressive both of them were. They were both tirelessly protecting their territory from something they perceived as threatening. Here is the aggressor in action.



Over the top of the leopard cage was this fun little statue. It's so Mayan in style since that was the theme of this particular area.



Venturing back outside, we find these adorable fellows.



They had a sweet little setup and were happy to pose for a few portraits.

While checking out the penguins, I looked up into some greenery above my head. There was a bit of a rocky outcrop that had some fencing around it. This is what was staring back at me.



What the!?! What in the world IS that thing? Oh, you want a closer look? Well ok.



Downright prehistoric looking isn't it! I actually had to find an employee to identify it for me.



So, can any of you tell me what it is? First one to guess the right answer wins a prize! (ok, so that prize *might* only be a pat on the back but hey, you'll look SMART!)

I'll have the right answer and some more great shots of him next week.

Well that concludes our little safari. We hope you've enjoyed yourself. If you've lost any family members along the way, please report it to the game warden.

Be sure to exit in an orderly fashion.

Thank you.

4 comments:

OddAngelCharon said...

Isn't that a shoebill?

Miss you and the gang.

Larry said...

Looks like some sort of pelican.

Joan said...

It does look an awful lot like a Shoebill. Love the pics AND the commentary!

Kristi said...

I'm also voting for some kind of pelican. Man, I wish pictures I took of aminals turned out that well. I need to start shopping for a new camera.