Sharon's Week 12: Noah Has Nothing On Me!

Oh, there were green alligators and long-necked geese, humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees, cats and rats and elephants but sure as you were born, you're never gonna see no unicorn.

Now that you're all singing that famous Irish Rovers song, you can peruse my photos.  I did in fact see all of those animals in the song but not all of them made it to this post.  I still have to cull and process all of my Florida pictures but I went through them enough to find the ones I really wanted everyone to see.

Now for my confession...I chose this week's topic knowing that I would be in Florida at Discovery Cove (where there is the most amazing free-flight aviary), Sea World and Busch Gardens.  I kind of had a bit of an advantage.  I don't feel too guilty though...everyone except Pam and Mary has at least one pet and most of us have more than one.  I nearly lost one today but we arrived home in time to recognize the severity of his illness (credit for that actually goes to Maxine and her expertise from having a large furry herd) and the vet has managed the emergency.  It looks like special food from now on though to manage his urinary system.

I had a lot of fun making these photographs, not least because it was warm and not snowy there.

This first photo is not (obviously) a real animal.  It is one of several sculptures at Sea World created by Angela Hazeltine Pozzi and her organization The Washed Ashore Project (washedashore.org).  These sculptures are created completely from trash that has washed ashore, collected by volunteers and made into art by some pretty special artists.  I believe this sculpture was created from plastic toys that had washed ashore.

Let's start the real animal photos at Discovery Cove.  I think the main reason most people go there is to swim with the dolphins but the rest of the park is gorgeous...the lazy river that runs through the free-flight aviary, the snorkeling with the tropical fish and rays, the sugar-soft sand, the all day, all-you-can-eat-and-drink food and beverages, the relaxed atmosphere, the beautiful flora and limited guests allowed in the park on any given day.  Here are some of the birds that let me photograph them in the aviary.

racquet-tailed roller

laughing kookaburra

pied imperial pigeon

scarlet ibis

green aracari

speckled mousebird

Reichenows weaver

spoonbill (not sure what type - it wasn't on the bird identification sheets, which, in case you were thinking I had an amazing memory, I photographed)

That was Sunday.  Monday, we headed to Sea World where we saw flamingos,

orcas,

dolphins,

seals (or sea lions...where is Levi when I need him?)

and beautiful white birds which are considered pests here.

Busch Gardens in Tampa was where we headed next in search of animals.  The first exhibit we passed was the gorillas and chimpanzees.  These chimps had just been served their breakfast.  My mom has said that I cannot name them Mona, Irma, Elayne and Iris, so I won't...but you may.

These guys were in the water when we first passed but later they came out to bask in the sun.

These little guys sat on this shelf for quite some time grooming each other (or pestering each other...I don't really know).

The way these two kangaroos were cuddled was really cute.

And finally, the whole reason we went back to Florida this year (apart from visiting my snowbird parents) was to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.  My final animal is the dragon who helps Harry, Ron and Hermione (the character, not my camera - which worked fine all week, by the way) escape from Gringotts Bank.  He has just breathed fire.  If you look carefully, you can see some orange beside his face.

It's back to the regular grind now.  Early night, groceries and laundry in the morning ( and hopefully picking up Darkness).  Happy Saturday evening everyone.