Northern Pintail female - Anas acuta

Photographed at the Rushy Hide, Slimbridge WWT, Gloucestershire, GB.

Barn Owl - Tyto alba

Beautiful Barn Owl.

Harris Hawk - Parabuteo unicinctus

The Harris's hawk formerly known as the bay-winged hawk or dusky hawk, is a medium-large bird of prey that breeds from the southwestern United States south to Chile, central Argentina, and Brazil.

Brilliant.

White Stork - Ciconia ciconia

Taken by my son, Callum.

The white stork is, largely, a carnivorous bird. They are wading birds covered in white feathers, except for the black primary feathers on their wings. They have slender legs that are bright orange and have long, sharp bills. Adults are 100 to 115 cm tall with half this height being made up of the legs. The male of the species is usually larger than the female. White storks inhabit open wetlands, savannahs, meadows, pastures, and agricultural fields. They prefer areas with shallow, standing water. During the breeding season, white storks seek out areas with suitable structures on which to build nests. They especially like sunny areas on tall trees or rooftops. The female will lay three to five eggs which are incubated for 33 to 34 days. The chicks are fed by both parents via regurgitation and will eat up to 60 percent of their body weight each day, until around nine weeks of age when the chicks leave the nest.

African Pygmy Goat - Capra aegagrus hircus

African pygmy goats are a small domestic breed of goat. They are social animals and live in herds. Like other goats they are great climbers and love to jump on rocks and logs. These goats are mainly black, white, grey and brown in colour. Both sexes have horns but only the males have beards. Pygymy Goats are also very smart and curious.

Meerkat - Suricata suricatta

Meerkats live together in large communities and are very friendly towards each other. They work as a group to look out for one another, with some meerkats being posted as lookouts to watch for predators and others being used to hunt prey or nurse the pups. Often pictured ‘standing up’ on their rear legs, these inquisitive creatures are alert to every movement around them.

The dark patches around their eyes help to reduce the glare of the sun, making them even more effective lookouts. They communicate by chirping and make shrill sounds to warn each other of potential dangers. Captive.

White Rhinoceros - Ceratotherium simum

White rhinos are the second largest land mammals in the world. Their large horns and sizeable bulk make them powerful animals. The white rhino is distinct from the black rhino by its square lip. They have two horns which can be used for defence and attack. These horns grow 8cm every year and have been known to grow as long as 1.5m.

Captive.

Alpaca - Lama pacos

Alpaca are one of four species of South American camelid: Llama, Alpaca, Vicuna andGuanaco. Llama and Alpaca are domesticated, Vicuna and Guanaco are wild. Alpaca are the smallest of the domesticated camelidspecies. They have a slender body and neck, a small head and large, pointed ears. They are social animals that live in herds. These herds are not only composed of other alpacas but also include other species such as llamas, goats and sheep. Alpaca produce a range of vocalisations such as humming, clucking, grumbling and screeching.  There is only one species of alpaca but two fleece types, often referred to as breeds. They are the Huacaya and Suri alpacas and we have both here at the zoo. The suri fleece type is commonly described as looking like a ‘teddy bear’ and the huacaya type as looking like ‘dreadlocks’.

Rhea - Rhea americana

My daughter has a new baby girl, I love it. Her name is Summer.

A South American bird.