Although I would never have driven all the way to the Woodland Park Zoo without Lael, it’s not easy taking pictures when you’re alone with a four year old at the zoo, particularly when she’s not too interested in birds. I wouldn’t have had nearly as much fun by myself, but I would probably have gotten better pictures and would surely have had time to get the names of birds I’d taken pictures of.

I’m not letting a simple lack of names limit my favorite shots of birds at the zoo, though, and I’ll have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the wide variety of birds I saw at the zoo, certainly many more than I remember being there when I used to visit as a kid, not to mention that the overall exhibits are remarkably better, with very few dingy cages with neurotic animals pacing back and forth.

My favorite shot of exotic birds was this one of an African Blue-bellied Roller,

a bird I tried several times to get a picture of in the Denver Zoo but failed because I had to shoot it through netting. I appreciated the fact that it was in an open, netted area in the Woodland Zoo.

Unfortunately this Kockaburra and his mate were confined in a much smaller, glassed-in area.

I didn’t realize until a few minutes ago that the Kockaburra was a form of kingfisher. No wonder I like it so much!

I’m not sure what this bird is, since it was in a large area with many other beautiful birds, but I was certianly struck by its exotic plumage.

While looking at Woodland Park site to try to identify this bird, I realized just how many different birds I managed to miss in our four hour trip to the zoo.