Zoo Spotlight: Gatorland

When my family and I visited Disney World in Orlando, Florida in 2007, my dad really wanted to go to this alligator zoo thing that he had gone to before, called Gatorland.  It was really awesome!  So let's do a Zoo Spotlight on it!  Every photo in here was taken by my mother, so there is no need to do a "Photo Credit" for every single one!  First off is the entrance to Gatorland!

Perched right next to the entrance were a number of black vultures!

And, as you can probably imagine of a place called "Gatorland," there were lots and lots of alligators, all over the place!  Probably some of the coolest alligators we saw while we were there, though, were the ones that were involved in the feeding demonstration!

There were lots more alligators too, though.  Some were sunning themselves....

 

 

Now, what was that bird in the last picture of the alligator sunning itself on a dock?  That was a great blue heron, and not only do we have those here in Colorado, but there were a bunch there too!

The great blue herons seemed pretty comfortable in the murky water, although something sinister lurked beneath....

 

 

 

 

 

And as if that wasn't enough, they had a place where you could feed goats, too!

 

So would I recommend Gatorland to anyone who was going to be in the area?  Heck, I would recommend it to anyone who isn't going to be in the area, too!

Buena Ventura Lakes on Dwellable

Birds of Prey on Marshall Road

Today, my friend Mona Kamath and I went out to find some birds of prey along a little side road off of Marshall Road between Boulder and Superior in Colorado.  We saw an abundance of them on this trip, perhaps more than on any other trip.  The only other trips that I can remember that could rival this one were one where I saw red-tailed hawks, kestrels, and turkey vultures, and another one where I saw red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and a golden eagle.

Today, we were rewarded with not one, but two golden eagles!  Below are some pictures taken by both me and Mona.

 

 

 

 

We also saw a number of turkey vultures circling overhead, and a pair of them perched on a fence nearby.  However, by far the most exciting vulture spot of the day was when a juvenile turkey vulture landed right behind us!  I stopped the car and Mona was able to snap a few pics.  Not quite as exciting as the time a few weeks ago when I was on this road, and saw a pair of turkey vultures and a bunch of magpies fighting over the remains of a small carcasses, maybe thirty feet from my car!  Note how similar the juvenile turkey vulture looks compared to black vulture adults.

 

I also saw a bird of prey perched upon a lamp post in the middle of Superior.  I don't know what kind it is, so if anyone can help me out with that, that would be awesome!  Anyways, here are a few pics of it:

 

 

One of my most favorite bird of prey moments on this road was perhaps a month or two ago when I saw a pair of hawks flying along calmly next to each other, and then they suddenly locked talons.  I'm not positive, but I believe that it might have been a courtship display!

Boulder on Dwellable