New Forest

I met up with my brother, The Spotlight Kid, at the New Forest Wildlife Park, to celebrate his forthcoming birthday. We began with lunch in the café, but as soon as we went into the park itself, the downpour began, and we had a rather soaked afternoon, best summarised by this bedraggled bison. Shortly after taking that picture my K-x stopped working altogether and didn't revive until the next day.

We did get to see most of the animals, though, including my second European otter in a few weeks, never having seen one before, and Scottish wild cats. We saw other otters being fed, including a family of Asian short-clawed otters and a pair of giant otters - a highlight for me as I had only recently learned of their existence. They are found in America and are the largest of the species, reaching seven and a half feet in length. The ones in the Park are one foot shorter than that, and there are only three other sites in the country that keep them.

Some of the deer were extremely tame, and one called Dotty kept trying to eat the pocket straps on my canvas shoulder bag while I was trying to photograph the giant otters, and had to be repeatedly pushed away. Another highlight of the afternoon was seeing a seven-year old lynx called Munchkin being fed, and later saw her call to her mother, Grishkin, who was in an adjacent enclosure. We tried to see the wolves but they didn't put in an appearance. However, I will definitely return another day when the weather is better.

The sun came out when I left and I drove back through back roads in the New Forest. I stopped to photograph this herd of ponies that were quite close by on the other side of the road, when one of them signalled them all to take off, and they galloped past me, crossing the road, narrowly missing Archie (the car) and settling some distance away, making this last picture of the day my Blip.

L.
5.10.2013

Blip #1064
Consecutive Blip #003
Day #1271

Alternatives:
European Otter (indoor enclosure, taken through glass)
Lynx
Short-Clawed Otters
Giant Otter (taken through glass)

Horses series

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Jerry Garcia - Sugaree (1971 R)