Zoo Trip #13: Bristol Zoo

Last Thursday was the last chance to fit in my monthly zoo trip (an earlier attempt to visit Twycross while I was in the Midlands had foundered) and I set off early as I had a number of stops I intended to make on my way there, the first being at the Avon in Lacock where I can report there were again no herons or swans to be found, and I took no pictures. I then detoured to Great Chalfield Manor, where my camera had half-an-hour to snap and snap.

I called again on the Avon on Winsley Hill at Limpley Stoke, continuing my researches to find an access point to the river where I can walk along the bank to get a view of Dundas Aquaduct, because there is a footpath there. It took me to the riverside but on the wrong side of the bridge and there was no path on either side. There were some anglers and two swans. I had a full and frank exchange of views with a local ray of sunshine who took exception to my having legally parked on the verge a few feet from his drive, and tried to mow the grass there before I had driven off!

My next detour was to the village that time forgot, Newton St Loe. I had last been there in 2003 and was pleased to see that the village, owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, had resisted the advances of the twenty-first century.

My final intermediate stop was at Coombe Down in Bath, where I acquired a few litres of the most precious liquid known to man, which all went into the car. It was mid-afternoon by the time I reached the zoo. It was unusually full and it was difficult to park, because there was a one-day strike about pensions that had closed many schools and everyone had decided to take their kids there. I hesitated to blip the lion cubs yet again, but I felt that as they are growing so fast the opportunity to show this stage of development was too good to miss. This cub looked so like its mother, lying next to it, that I suspect it might be Jay, the female cub, rather than Kaly. It was a difficult choice as both red pandas were performing for the camera, and I also got pleasing shots of the otters and the pelicans.

On leaving the zoo I'm pleased to say I had been invited to supper with Serpentine, and on the way I had a chance to stop in Clifton on Sion Hill to practice some stealth photography. It is beside the Avon Gorge and Suspension Bridge, and with my vertigo required not inconsiderable nerve!

I took over 200 photographs and it has taken six days to use all the spare time I had to work through and process them all, so I will leave it a couple of days before I back-blip the quickies I have taken in the following days.

L.
5.7.2011

Lens: Sigma 70-300mm

Day #462
Blip #460
Consecutive Blip #457

Alternatives:
Red Panda
Otter
Pelican
Stealth Photography #1
Stealth Photography #2: Avon Gorge Hotel

Zoo Trip series


A Day Trip To Bristol, 30 June 2011 (Complete Flickr Set)

1 year ago: Poppy