tdierikx

... ... and some Chimps... Gorillas next...

OK - here are the various assorted ones first... *grin* ... more coming...

Awww... T.

Aunty Margaret has sent a couple more pics of Candy for us to share... Candy is loving having her 3 calm foster sibs to keep her company... Abbie the GSD, Lizzie the Manchester Terrier, and Ozzie the mobile fuzzy duster... *grin* Aunty Margaret is somewhat smitten by how well behaved Candy is, and a real bonus is that she is apparently toilet trained... it won't be too long before Candy can join in the proper training sessions the other 3 do - she's coming along exceptionally well according to Dr Robert her treating vet. T.

Is it just me, or is he getting even more handsome by the day? He's going to be a heartbreaker I reckon! T.

Lions and Tigers were dozing today... but the Gorillas and Chimps more than made up for that... *grin* Anyone ever seen a Giant Tortoise fight? I have now... all in slo-mo... lol! The Snow Leopards were way cool today - the female is in season, and the male seriously is not taking his eye off her. Got some nice pics of her response to his constant attention... she was a little miffed to say the least. I didn't take any of them having a romantic interlude though... I let them have their privacy at that point. Going through the Chimp pics I notice that I got a little more detail than I expected when looking at the shots of the ones waiting for food to be thrown by the keepers... someone was a bit excited... errr! There are some gorgeous pics of the Gorillas if I do say so myself - the baby girl is too cute for boots! Apparently the current family of Gorillas are moving to Mogo Zoo this month, and Taronga has new ones settling in off exhibit that will be moved in when the others leave. My hand/wrist has miraculously unfrozen itself with the workout today, but my calves are not being friendly and my shoulders are a little stiff - a nice long hot shower will feel nice, and a couple of anti-inflams when I get up tomorrow may be a good idea... *grin* I took 1150 photos today, and after deleting all those I didn't think were up to par I have 690 really nice photos. It's going to be hard to pick only a few of the really good ones to share. My nemesis is getting good Otter pics... early in the morning, the inside of the glass is all wet and impossible to shoot through, and later in the day, the sun glare off the glass makes it hard to get pics of the fast moving little buggers. I'll keep trying though... Can't wait until the warmer months when the sun is in a different position - will make taking some photos a whole lot easier I reckon. I'm going to have a long hot shower now, then will see about sorting some nice pics to share, OK? If it doesn't happen tonight, I'll get them up tomorrow afternoon... T.

Rescue and fostering isn't all sweetness and warm fuzzies, is it? Sometimes we have to make some very hard decisions rather than passing a problem around, yes? Hugs to you for trying your hardest for this boy... T.

Harper loves me above all else... the only other people she will happily go to are lillypilly and Katdogs (fellow DOLers and friends) - but she still looks for me for reassurance. She's been like that since before I took her home to foster as a young pup. Zeddy (14 this month) was supposed to be my now ex's dog, but she decided early on that I was her one and only... wise choice methinks... *grin* Pickles and Trouble prefer my company unless there's easy food pickings from someone else... lol! T.

Make sure Widget's daddy keeps her calcium up - she's going to be making a lot of milk for those boombas... lots of yummy tucker at all times too, so she doesn't drop too much weight too fast. Those are seriously some very healthy looking babies, and I'll bet they are quite mobile and vocal if the milk bar moves. I can sit and watch newborn pups for hours. Don't forget that Widget will need lots of pats and kisses too - she did an amazing thing yesterday. Please pass on some cuddles and kisses from me... T.

No matter what people think of Steve Austin, he's one hell of a dog trainer... great to see him behind this truly awesome scheme for our "broken" diggers. T.

Oh My Dog! They ARE big babies, aren't they? Absolutely stunning little mites though... simply gorgeous! As always Kirislin, you've captured them beautifully... thank you so much for sharing with us... We will need at least weekly pics of these darlings now, you do realise... they are going to be the cutest things ever when they start getting about on their own methinks. T.

Using a neck strap tlc... but funnily enough my neck is't sore - probably because I was supporting the weight of the camera by holding it up a bit when I was walking about. My back and legs are a bit stiff this morning, and the wrist is niggly - but nothing an anti-inflam tablet won't fix... *grin* No Golden Tamarin or Crab-Eating Macaques there at all Katdogs... or there would definitely have been photos... I kept going back to the tigers to see if there was anything happening, but the lazy buggers slept right up the back of the enclosure most of the day... and when they finally did start moving about, they had attracted a crowd of people putting their kids up against the glass to make nasty slimy fingerprints everywhere - and the sun was in a position where it was causing a lot of nasty reflections on the glass. Interesting to note that this lens can get pics of the tigers sleeping right up the back of the enclosure, but the glare from the glass is a bit of an issue with shots at that distance (could probably be fixed easily enough with post processing though). It's really amazing how many iphone happy snappers will barge in front of you when you are lining up a shot - I had to delete a lot of back of head shots from the rude buggers popping up in front of the camera just as I pressed the button to take the shots. There were a few people who couldn't get their kids close enough to see a few times, and I let them in front of me - all I asked is that they didn't lift the kid into my field of view... most complied happily, and we all got to see what we wanted to see. It's definitely harder to get great focus handheld at full zoom with this lens. For a start, the weight alone makes it harder to hold up for any extended period, and you start to get a bit of arm tremble going on. Jostling for position and being barged about by iphone happy snappers and people with kids who think that it's their right to barge right up to the front of any exhibit doesn't help either. One thing that did impress was all the other people with decent camera gear who all happily shared or swapped positions so each could get their nice shots... I had a good position a few times and saw a couple of people having difficulty getting access, so I took a few shots then asked them if they'd like my spot for theirs - it's like being part of a special "club" when you have nice camera gear - others with similar seem to be a lot more accommodating and friendly - must be that they understand the joy of getting a nice shot I reckon. I had quite a few people approach me with their cameras asking if I could take a photo of their family against the absolutely stunning scenery - which I happily did... it's weird trying to line up pics with those live view little cameras, but they were all happy with the shots... lol! What the heck - I think I'll strap up this wrist and go again today... *grin* T.

I'm jealous of the photos you take of your gorgeous dogs, your platypus, and your bird shots Frodo's Mum... *grin* T.

I'm pretty happy with how these ones turned out... *grin* All pics handheld (hence the sore wrist), no cropping or editing - just resized for posting to the net. T.

I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them... T.

... one more lot coming...

... more coming...

Well - I can firmly attest that this thing is HEAVY! Walking around the Zoo from 9:30am to 4:00pm taking handheld pics has my right wrist telling me in no uncertain terms that it's not happy with me. My left shoulder isn't much happier either... On the upside though, the funky back and leg pain issue is behaving itself even though I must have walked at least 10km today. So in love with my physio's electrified needling right now. I've just been through all the pics, and have some to share... *grin* ... more coming...

Lovely!!! T.

Widget... you are due baby... time to show us your little bundles of joy... T.

She's actually much more approachable in the flesh, and can take constructive criticism well... and she truly does look after her charges well and is very fussy about who they are rehomed to. T.

Woohoo! Sunny day today! I'm off to the Zoo with my new toy... As for taking photos of ducks with a new lens - one doesn't usually have to go far to find one, and they are easy targets bacause they don't usually move much... lol! I got a couple of nice ones with cool reflections of the ducks' heads in the water too. T.

Don't you dare forget your camera when you go down to help with the babies Kirislin... Crossing fingers that Widget has an uneventful delivery, and that her babies are as adorable as we think they are going to be. Oh - and that Kirislin comes back to us with cute Iggy baby pics... T.

Thank YOU Camellia12... your wonderful donation to Candy's surgery was most appreciated... she actually has some prosthetic bits in the leg now, which should see her all better once it has healed up and rested for a while. Apparently her surgery was much more involved than just cruciate repair, but she should make a complete recovery. The vets are very happy with how she's coming along, and Aunty Margaret says she's a delightful foster who fits in just perfectly... T.

When I used to work nightshift in a computer room, I and another workmate used to sometimes bring our Rotties to work. We also used to rollerblade around the computer room... *grin* I used to take a pet rat to work when I was younger - nobody knew until she stuck her head up out of my pocket one day... and then everyone wanted a cuddle... T.