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Monday, October 29, 2012

panda spotting take 2

On Saturday I went to the zoo with my sister for a second look at the pandas.  They arrived in Scotland almost a year ago and are still a big attraction so you have to book a slot to see them and get about 15 minutes.  Which means there is no guarantee on if you will see any of either of them.  When we went in May we were pleased to catch a glimpse of each sleeping form.

With cooler weather we were hopeful of seeing a bit more this time.  As we queued we were told the female was in her inner enclosure but the male was not.  Then as we went in we heard the male was now out eating. 

He was sitting in his feeding basket with his back resolutely towards the crowds. He sat like that for 5 mins, occasionally eating some bamboo – I have several nearly identical photos.  Then, when most people were over watching the female, he climbed down and over to his platform to snuffle up the remaining crumbs of his panda cake.  

panda-1

Lovely to see him moving around.  I think he is a fabulous looking bear.

The female was laying still but posing beautifully so I have these two lovely portraits of her

panda-she

and him

panda-he

We did see many other animals in the zoo but these were the stars.

8 comments:

alexa said...

They certainly are - and wonderfully captured too! There's something about those top two where he refused to acknowledge everyone's stares which I really like :).

humel said...

Oh, brilliant! I echo what Alexa says about the 'attitude' he's showing in the first 2 pics lol :)

My Mum has a history of never seeing otters. Whenever she visits the zoo, they immediately hide away. Even when she tries to coincide with their feeding times they end up getting fed early so they've gone away again to sleep it off by the time she arrives....

Elizabeth said...

They are beautiful!

Sian said...

Cool pandas! I'd say they would be worth that zoo admission charge - it has gone down in family history as one of our most expensive trips ever lol. There's a great penguin house too isn't there? I think I remember that

Maria Ontiveros said...

Wow! What great photographs! I love the top collage especially.
Rinda

Miriam said...

Another Wow! I love the top two of his back! and of course your portraits are fabulous. They are just such very beautiful bears.

Ginger said...

Your photos are amazing Helena! We saw the pandas at the San Diego Zoo a few years ago, but it was quite rushed and I did not get any shots or if I did they did not turn out as well as yours :)

Alison said...

Like Ginger, we too saw the pandas at SD zoo..and they had just had a baby...SO cute! Love your pics!
Alison xx