Striking A Pose

These Bush Dogs really are so cute and catching them out running around making the most of the winter sun was such a treat. 

They are almost constantly on the move though and they rarely seem to stop so when these two paused momentarily I was lucky enough to capture the moment. Reviewing these images I thought how they were striking a model pose, especially the second one where he was looking directly at the camera.

So Cute, So Cuddly

I have chosen a couple of black and white images for today.  

Both of these adorable creatures are red or reddish brown but I think that even in monochrome they look great.

Froglets

When I started my blog back in September 2014 my first shot was of a small frog that I found on a wonderful trip to the New Forest in Hampshire, one of my favourite places to be.

Today's offering is of two tiny froglets that I spotted on my recent walk around Mere Sands Wood. On a previous walk there had been hundreds of frogs hopping across the paths, risking all to get to the ponds and meres. It was quite a challenge getting around the woods without stepping on one.

On Monday there were fewer frogs but as I had my macro lens attached I was able to get a few shots as you can see above. It was quite tricky to be honest as I had to keep moving my left hand with the frog on it and to hold my camera steady and shoot one handed. 

I hope you will agree that the results are worth it. You can see how tiny the frogs are as they are smaller than the middle section of my index finger and they are really very cute.

Sun Worshipper

It was really cold at the end of my day at the zoo, in spite of the cloudless sky and bright sun so I was really glad that I had gone prepared and was wrapped up nice and warm.

My last stop of the day was to see the meerkats and they were all out, sat on the highest ground to capture the last rays of the day and what little warmth it offered. It meant that they were still enough, for long enough to get some nice shots.

Cats and Dogs...

I have recently posted a lovely photo of a cheetah but yesterday when I went to the zoo I managed to get some really great shots the first of today's offering being one.

The second shot is a dog, a Bush Dog and they are unbelievably cute. Apparently they have a very wide range in the wild but they are extremely rare so to see such a healthy group at Chester Zoo is really nice.

Aw How Cute

Have a look at this little black beauty. I am used to seeing grey squirrels and I am lucky enough to be close enough to a sanctuary where the rarer red squirrels can be seen but I had never seen black squirrels before and I was really taken aback when I first saw one in  a small town on our first evening in Canada.

This cheeky little critter was a regular visitor as we sat out in the garden during the day or while eating our evening meal. He really is cute isn't he. 

A New Favourite

For my birthday I was given a 12 month membership for Chester Zoo and today I went to collect my membership card with my daughter and we popped in to take a few pictures (well it would have been rude not to). It was the end of the day and it rained really heavily so lots of visitors had left. It was nice and quiet and after the rain passed I was able to get good view of some of the animals.  Obviously we didn't get to see everything but there's no hurry, after all I have all year. 

I wanted to see my two favourite creatures, the Jaguar and the Red Pandas and I was lucky to see both but as we were looking for the exit we walked past these little critters, Dwarf Mongoose.  I have been to the zoo many times and I had never seen these before today, they have always been underground so it was a real treat. They are so flippin' cute and they have become one of my favourites. I hope you like them too.

With my zoo pass I will be visiting from time to time so be prepared for lots more animal pictures.  In the coming days I will share some of my other favourites from my brief visit today... enjoy!

Chilling with my homies

I went to Williamson Park to visit the butterfly house (more of that tomorrow) and I wasn't expecting to find a selection of small mammals as well. There were a number of rabbits and guinea pigs but by far the most fun creatures were the meerkats.

I think they are really cute and the only thing that would make these pictures better would be a soundtrack of meerkat chatter. 

It's Red and It's a Panda!

When I went to the zoo last week the animal I most wanted to see was this lovely creature; the Red Panda.

I have to say that this is probably the cutest animal in the zoo and I was really pleased to get these shots as it is quite shy.  I think the second of today's pictures is probably the best shot from my day out.