I took these shots of different parts of the Grevy's Zebra to highlight the unique and intricate patterns of stripes.
I wonder if you can work out from looking at each picture which part of the zebra they are from. I will give you a clue; the fourth one is the head. You will have to work the rest out for yourselves, leave a comment if you think you know.
I have had an extra special visitor in my home overnight, not everyone was as excited as me to welcome Athena the 3 year old Boa constrictor but she is such a beauty and I enjoyed making friends with her albeit very briefly.
I took a number of shots last night but the lighting was really not good enough and although one or two images were not too bad I was keen to get some better pictures to share, so just after lunch we went out into the sunshine and as Athena warmed up her beautiful colours came to life.
She proved quite an attraction as passers-by stopped to observe and say hello and Athena patiently took all this in her stride (if you can say that about a snake, perhaps "in her slide" would be better).
In the first of today's images you can see the range of exquisite colours, from the shades of brown and black that you might expect to the salmon, pink and shimmering blue that are probably more of a surprise.
Although she is young and quite slender Athena is all muscle and very strong and you can feel this as she moves with such precision and control and as she holds her head forward to survey her surroundings.
In the second image you can see clearly her eye and the way the pattern on the side of her head continues into her eye completing the effective camouflage. You can also see her "moustache" which is a nice feature.
The final shot today took some patience. I was really keen to get a shot of her deep blue tongue but as she was almost constantly moving getting the focus right and hitting the shutter at just the right time. I think with this one I got it spot on.
I was fascinated to see the intricate and varied patterns etched in the ice on a small pool of water collected in the uneven surface of the bedrock on Thurstaston Hill. I have cropped the image slightly to remove some blades of grass in the bottom corner because they were a distraction from what I wanted to share.
