I'm not sure how many of the waterfowl at the zoo were inhabitants, and how many were ... unwanted guests. There were mallards, which are extremely common, and Canada geese, whose numbers move them into the "pest" category in many places.
The water they swam in was so clean their feet were clearly visible. It was easy to see how the feet folded up on the forward stroke, to move easily through the water, and spread out amazingly when the birds pushed forward. Cool.
Swans. I liked the synchrony -- position, reflections, left feet.....
Look at his feet -- right one gathered up small as it goes forward, left one spread to push....
The flamingos are clearly getting plenty of what it takes to keep their color bright. Like their pink "knees" -- which must be heels, really, yes?
Louisville is far enough south that the big "real" magnolias can live through the winter.
I saw the "other kinds" of magnolias, blooming. The pink and white-star kinds we have in Ann Arbor. This one, the kind we saw blooming in June in Baltimore last year, was not blooming.
Little owl (read sign; forgot, sigh). Eyes so big, in comparison to everything else.
I heard one very little (15 months?) boy enthusiastically (and repeatedly) identifying this as "beecop!"
This fellow looked to be in fine shape. Every feather looked perfect.
Huge chameleon sculpture outside herp building.
This position looks very deliberate. And uncomfortable.
At last, I managed to document something!
I was struck by the way the scales were so big, looking almost like feathers (I was thinking of that beecop, I bet). It looked like this individual was shedding its skin, scale by scale rather than all in one piece.
That caught my eye, so I hunted for the sign, which said this is a mamba -- the most dangerous snake on the African continent. Their venom is very potent, they are aggressive, and they are very fast......
Closer crop of the above -- you can see the dead scale bits lifting above its eye, and can see a couple of places on the other part of its body where it looks like the scales are shedding.
Gray tree frog.
One of those "just take the pic" pics.
I had no idea if this would come out, and here it is, nice and sharp.
I could see no critter in this space, but look at the excellent track. Which, maybe, originates in that brightest spot? Either that, or ends there......
I *think* the tracks look like they are moving away from that spot. ??
Speaking of moving away from spots, the herp building was my last stop at the zoo. We had had a *perfect* parking place in the hotel's parking structure. My goal was to return to the hotel at about 4:30, so the bridge players would be done for the afternoon and I'd have a good shot at another good spot.
I visited the giftshop; I bought a few postcards; I sat in the sun on that nice warm (77!) afternoon and wrote postcards.
Then I headed back downtown.
The trip back downtown was easy (especially as I have an idea at this point which streets are one-way in which directions!), and I got another prime spot in the parking structure.
Back in the room, looking through the (dirty) window at Louisville's bright taxis.
We went up to check out the restaurant at the top of the hotel.
Looking west.
Muhammad Ali is a Louisville native, and that's his building on the left. If you click to embiggen, you can see images of a boxer on the side of the building.
I believe that some of the Ohio is too white-water for barges, just west of here. I believe there is a lock (or locks?) downstream of the railroad bridge you can see.
Barges go through that narrow space in the center of the pic, between the shore and that islandy-looking piece of ground, and I believe there is a lock just west and downstream of there.
Looking east. Two white bridges for cars, and I believe the brown one, farthest from here, is the pedestrian bridge.
Looking down -- the same three flags that are visible from our room, with flood debris, and a tiny bit of River Road visible top left.
Fancy decor in the restaurant.
Downstairs. Looking at the intersection of Fourth Street and River Road from about the same perspective as before.
The water has receded noticeably.
But there are still ducks swimming on River Road.....
The last time we looked this way, the signage near the bottom of this pic was nearly covered by the water.
Looking west at that same railroad bridge we saw from on high.
Looking south at the hotel (restaurant in the two disks at top), with the expressway between us and the hotel.
I saw lots of people in green, on the 17th, including a herd of little boys in green shirts and with green hair sticking straight up, at the zoo.
These were my favorites.
So cute -- almost certainly not of Irish descent, but seriously into the wearing of the green. (We think Dad's head paint is visible in his left hip pocket.) Mom and daughter are wearing flashing shamrock necklaces, alas not visible.
How nice that everyone can join in and be Irish for a day. :-)
In order to facilitate reading the Louisville posts in chronological order, I have put a link at the end of each post to the next one. The post after this one is here.
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