[Photography] Zoo II

[moonvoice]

I think I'm getting to a point where I might be able to interact a bit more again,
we'll see.
Otherwise the writing has been going well.
My Patreon account for my original fae tales works launches next Saturday (the 8th).
I'm nervous.







Last one of the Brolga





Blue Billed Duck





Black Necked Stork (Jabiru)





Black Swan









Elegant Parrot





Elegant Parrot





Dingo

























Australian Raven (not in an enclosure, just hangin' around).













Grey Kangaroo

















Magpie Lark - no enclosure, just hanging around.

Comments

[transcendancing]

Good luck with your Patreon account! You are amazing :)

Yay zoo pictures - they're all so clear and crisp - like I'm there standing beside you. *loves*

[moonvoice]

Hopefully the Patreon account goes well. :)

And thank you about the photos! I didn't know if any would turn out (my camera is old and not functioning as well since England) but I'm lucky some did.

Love the pictures!

[dialecticdreamer]

Is it me, or does that middle raven picture just SHOUT for the caption, "Duuuuude!" ?

Seriously gorgeous photography.

Re: Love the pictures!

[moonvoice]

Thank you!! <3

[silverjackal]

Wow there was a lot going on with the dingos while you were there. Just look at those faces! (I'd need more context to really understand their conmmunication since primitive dogs signal a bit differently from an ordinary domestic dog, but I can still tell there was a considerable amount going on, whether or not it looked like that to the human observers!) I also did a double take at your Blue-billed duck because it is so similar to a the Ruddy ducks we get here. Different species, though, and unless my Google-fu is off not even related that anyone knows. Fascinating! I also find the Black-necked stork very striking. Thank you for sharing these! :)

[moonvoice]

Heh, the keeper was the in the dingo exhibit! They were very happy. Like, running up to her for pats, then going up to be alert, then running back up to her for pats (tails wagging), and so on. I actually have a few of the two with the keeper like, I mean it was obvious they were also either waiting to be fed, or walked. I know that the Perth Zoo dingoes are walked twice daily around the zoo, and they love it. So yeah they were basically like... way more active / alert than usual, and pretty happy.

The black-billed stork is one of my favourite birds but man they were shy yesterday.

[silverjackal]

I had thought that perhaps an enticing "prey item" had flown into the dingo enclosure from outside because I can see the joy, excitement, and focus. The second picture in particular speaks to a happy, anticipatory dog (Cyrus makes the same face in anticipation of my throwing the ball for him), but I still needed the bigger picture to understand. The amount which they do "airplane ears" -- those ears out slightly to the side as a "pleased" expression is different from what you see in dogs that aren't primitive. I've seen it far more on Shiba Inus and Akitas than I ever have on most domestic dogs. Cyrus gives it more than Aidan or Kör or Kön ever did, and even with him it's not common. It's a fascinating difference in body language. Thank you for providing the context and helping me learn. :)

[moonvoice]

Yeah, the one of them running - they are running towards the keeper. And they got a lot of contact - back scratches, butt scratches, like full head / ear scratches. She checked their ears to make sure they were clean, etc.

The airplane ears - thank you for explaining those! I thought they might be a sign of excitement or being pleased but I wasn't used to seeing it most dogs so I couldn't be sure.

I find dingos really interesting because they...are domestic dogs that sort of rewilded, and then redeveloped (perhaps) some of that wilder or more primitive behaviour; but not entirely? They sort of occupy a grey area. A liminal space of wild dogness, heh.

[silverjackal]

I suspect the root stock that Dingos rose from may have never been particularly domesticated to begin with. One sees this with Basenjis and the various Nihon Ken (indigenous Japanese breeds, I always think of them collectively as the Nihon Ken now that I read the blog). And of course there are the New Guinea Singing Dogs which are more primitive still.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to The House of Two Bows for the "airplane ears" term. I knew the expression and what it meant before that (which is pleased satisfaction and not necessarily excitement), but it is difficult to describe without references. M.C. has discussed it as well as showing it clearly in photos of her Shiba Inu Bowdu, so I've stolen her turn of phrase.

Re: the running photo, I knew there was something absolutely super at hand. That squint/lip lick on the first dog is a strong "that feels nice!". Dogs will give that in anticipation of something they very much enjoy, as though the anticipated pleasure was already occurring. And of course the raised tail and forward posture on the second dog was pure happy/excited "Going to get that!". :D So much fun!

[elinox]

Here in the US we call that blue billed duck a "Ruddy duck". ;)

Very pretty pictures!

[moonvoice]

Nope, they are definitely are two different species! :) There's a comment above where Silverjackal said they did a double-take as well, but here observe the markings on the male blue-billed duck above, vs. the male ruddy duck which has a white face patch. Both have pictures of the males on the Wiki pages, so it's really easy to double check and see that they're not the same.

Blue-billed Duck - Oxyura australis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-billed_duck - an Australian species.

Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruddy_duck - a North and South American species.

They're obviously similar, but not the same, and don't share a geographic region.

Glad you enjoyed the photos!

[calissa]

Yay for writing! I hope things go well with the Patreon account (makes me wish I had some money to spare).

These photographs are amazing! You have quite an eye.

[redsixwing]

Yay for the Patreon! I'm eagerly awaiting.

I am always slightly boggled at how familiar dingoes look, just because we have a lot of herding dogs here with dingo ancestry, so the build and faces are spot on even if the coat color is different. That sandy-yellow is beautiful.