To Zoo or not to Zoo .. ?

I came to London mainly to play for the Lutheran's Bach Vespers, and wasn't needed until late in the day for rehearsals ..

So as it was beautifully sunny I decided to head for the Zoo to have a play with my camera.

I haven't been to a zoo for years - but even though the conditions have improved enormously since I was a kid, I found the experience terribly sad.

People crowded around the glass windows and bashed on the glass to get a response from the animals .. some animals just looked defeated by their life in a cage .. and for me the saddest thing was passing the cages of raptors on the way out.

Enormous birds of prey in very modest aviaries, one in particular constantly flying up to the wire roof and bashing it like a butterfly trapped in a jam jar.

So sad. Those birds should be half a mile up in the sky, looking down.

My one highlight was finding myself in the penguin area at feeding time, and seeing the gulls and herons which had all learned the twice daily feeding times, turning up to steal some easy pickings - then flying off until next time!