ABC Wednesday - G is for Giraffe

These are Wellington Zoo's resident giraffes and a mother and daughter pair. They are a hybrid breed.

They can be distinguished by markings on their necks. Zahara has a butterfly half way down her neck (the rear giraffe in the above photo) and Tisa has a heart, as shown below.

Tisa is the mother and the largest animal found at the zoo. She is known for being very slobbery.

Zahara is one of 3 giraffes to be born at the zoo and often the first to arrive at the observation deck for grub. 

In 2012 Wellington Zoo became famous for performing the second successful caesarean in the world. This was performed on Zahara, unfortunately the calve didn't survive. At the time there were only two published reports of surgeries of this kind and only one, published in 2007, that stated the mother survived the surgery. If you look carefully at Zahara's stomach you can see an extra fold which is the c-section scar.

 The giraffes are feed daily at 12.30, with the public being provided with browse to feed them. The browse is usually tree lucerne, silage or another type of foliage. These giraffes seem to love pohutukawa, which is a native to New Zealand and often referred to as the New Zealand Christmas tree.

ABC Wednesday

Little Green Pod

I was fossicking in my mothers garden when I discovered this Monarch butterfly chrysalis. I loved how even in the heat of the day there was still dew drops visible.

I Heart Macro

Macro Monday 2

Summer Gold

This was taken last weekend out the back of my Mum's house with the golden sunset through the Lemonwood and Popular Trees.

Weekly Top Shop

Skywatch Friday

The Blooms and the Bees

Recently there seems to be a lot of Bumble Bees around the place.

Here is an assortment of various flowers I have discovered with Bumble Bees hiding inside.

Floral Friday Foto
Blooming Friday
Today's Flowers

Foggy Wellington

Over the past two days we have been having a very foggy time in Wellington. The hot weather and warm ground temperatures have met with the cooler air over the Cook Strait to create large blankets of fog over the city. Limited wind has prevented it from moving on.

Waking up yesterday the whole of the valley was covered in fog down to the ground, a vast change from the clear blue sky's of the previous few days. Visibility was limited to around 5 meters (16ft) in front of you, which made driving quite fun.

The fog was back again today, though not quite as bad and the airport was able to open, it had been close for most of the previous day and Wednesday night as well.

The central city was just a covered with Parliament buildings looking rather creepy. This shot shows the back of the Parliamentary Library, a building which was completed in 1899 and has survived a number of fires. It still functions as the library today.

The Beehive looked especially frightening, like zombies and ghouls would suddenly appear. This is also a building of parliament, there are three in total, and a particularly iconic one in New Zealand.

Skywatch Friday

ABC Wednesday - F is for Frogs

Over the Christmas holidays I made it my mission to snap some photos of the Fabulous Frogs that reside in her pond. 

Over a two days I managed to collect a Few shots by creeping up on the Frogs as silently as possible.

I'm pretty certain that the Frog above is a Bull, watching over his Filly with a Flaming Fish passing by.

ABC Wednesday

Outdoor Wednesday

Up Close and Personal

Over the weekend I noticed the carrot flower heads seemed to be the social stopping point for a large variety of insects. I found this grasshopper relaxing in the sun on one.

I Heart Macro
Macro Monday 2
Nature Notes

Marigolds Marigolds Everywhere

A couple of weekends ago I ventured down to the Wellington Botanical Gardens.

For summer it seems they have taken the time to plant out one of the large gardens with thousands of marigolds, in three main colours.

They made quite an interesting pattern, which almost looked liked the sun and its rays. I don't know if that was intentional but other gardens did have purpose patterns listed.

I even managed to snap a couple of bumble bees stopping by. There were plenty buzzing around but it was very hard to get them to pause long enough for a photo.

Floral Friday Fotos

Today's Flowers

Howling at the moon

The past couple of nights we have been having amazing clear sky's with a big full moon.

I followed the moon as the dusk settled and was amazed by its brightness.

Even though I don't have a huge zoom on my camera I was able to get quite detailed shots.

I could see some of the craters and it was almost as if the man in the moon was staring back.

I do wonder what the neighbours were thinking with my camera flashing so much.

When the clouds finally rolled in it looked very mystical and almost like you could expect flying monkeys at any moment.

Skywatch Friday

ABC Wednesday - E is for Elephants

Last September my mother and I took a weekend trip to Sydney. While there we went to Taronga Zoo and saw these Extraordinary Elephants.

 

When you arrive to the zoo you can catch a gondola to the top which takes you over the Elephant house, giving you an Eagle Eye view.

 This is the male Elephant, who is being instructed by his keeper through a clicker to move the logs into line from the tyre. It was amazing to watch and Educating to see how intelligent these animals are.

They also had a couple of babies (which were rather large) that you could see Exploring the Enclosure.

This female stopped by to Examine me and say 'Ello.

ABC Wednesday

Cheeky Sparrows

I spotted these two when I was at the Wellington Botanical Gardens last weekend.

Mr Sparrow on the rose sign gave me a good giggle. It was almost as if he wanted to say hello. 

This one stretched right in front of me, from the looks of her she is from this seasons babies.

I Heart Macro
Macro Monday 2

Honey Bunny

This juvenile bunny is always out and about on a pocket of grass near my mother's house. 

 I had to creep down the road so he wouldn't see me but I think he was a bit suspicious.

He always had one eye in my direction.

Saturday's Critters

Camera Critters

Karori Night Sky

I saw this spectacular sunset a couple of weeks ago in Karori and loved the look of the different pastle strips across the sky.

Skywatch Friday

The Purple Giant

This peculiar flower is a Cardoon (Cynara Cardunculus), which is also known as the artichoke thistle. 

To me they look like giant Scottish thistles. The flowers stand high above the plant like bright purple beacons. Medicinally they can be used to detoxify liver tissue.

Floral Friday Foto

ABC Wednesday - D is for Darling Ducks

I Discovered these Ducks Discreetly Dozing under some rose bushes at the local Botanical Gardens.

Their closed eyes Disappeared into the rest of their Down.

And the Dazzling blue strip on the wing.

This Dainty lady looked very Dignified Drifting through the rose petals.

She even came over for a Dekko, unfortunately I had no Delicacies for her.

ABC Wednesday

Flowers In The Rain

These bean flowers have had a light sprinkle of water on them. The drops hanging on the flowers almost look like little sprinkles of glass.

I Heart Macro

Macro Monday 2