Picture hunter - October 2020

[Rayane]

In this thread I will showcase, zoo after zoo, the rarities* I managed to photograph in October 2020. The main goal is to provide an overview of the rarities kept in each zoos and where to find them. As most zoos are closing for a little while now, maybe you’ll also find some kind of alternative zoo related entertainment in this thread.
* A rarity for me is a species kept publicly in less than 5 zoos around Europe. My reference is Zootierliste.


Introduction

I started keeping a list of mammals/birds seen in 2018. I did not have a camera back then and after almost 2 years and something like 1200 species/subspecies, I realized it wasn’t enough anymore, I wanted a picture for each and every one of them I might see. Last december, I got my hands on a Nikon D750 and started taking pictures.

Late 2019 and early 2020, I visited the Oceanografico Lisboa, Zoo de Rabat, Zoo Barcelona, Parc Zoologique de Paris, La Ménagerie du Jardin des plantes and Touroparc Romanèche. Then a very long break took place, and I started taking pictures again only in August, when I spent a few weeks in Paris. During this time, I payed several visits to the Ménagerie du Jardin des plantes and one to the Parc Zoologique de Paris, with the goal of getting better at photography. Thanks to YouTube, I progressed faster than I would have on my own, and as my confidence and my consistency grew, I felt like it was time to visit new zoos to expand my species list. In September, I visited Les Aigles du Léman, Zoo Basel, le Zoo de Mulhouse and Le Parc des Oiseaux.

As my list got bigger, my motivation and will to photograph new species only grew. October was ahead, and except for a full week of work, I had no plans for the rest of the month. I decided I’d spend my free time visiting zoos, in order to take pictures of as many rare species as possible before winter. First trip was based in Berlin, second one in Frankfurt. Then I visited a few Swiss zoos before making my last trip of the month to Italy, only to visit one amazing collection.

A highly successful month in the end, with a total of 650 different species/subspecies photographed in 14 different zoos, while focusing on rarities as much as possible. 447 birds, 203 mammals. Really rewarding numbers, worth the long hours and the 250km+ walked.


Feel free to ask for any species or subspecies you'd like to see. I can't guarantee anything but maybe I'll add a few requested species here and there.
I of course didn't manage to photograph each and every species, sometimes a rarity might not be represented in this thread. Also, please bear with the lower quality pictures, there is only so much you can do when light is bad and many exhibits do lack a good amount of it.


I hope you will enjoy this thread.


Zoo Berlin is up first

 

[Rayane]

Zoo Berlin (1/4) – Mammals and waterbirds

Out of all the places visited during this month, it is by far the one I spent the most time in, looking for elusive birds or casually walking around.

Finding species in this zoo is rather easy, there are no hidden gems like in Plzen, and the species are exhibited by groups. All the pigs around the pig house, the deer have their kind of neighborhood, same for the cows. The northern corner of the zoo is home to most of the bird collection, making it the rarity stronghold of the zoo and in my opinion, the most pleasant part as well.
If there is one place I enjoy less than the other in the park it’s the now old monkey house. There isn’t any exhibit that’s really above average, most of them are under and it’s always packed with people for good reasons, monkeys are really entertaining but I’d rather watch them be in more natural settings.

Starting with the mammals, I was lucky to see the last Bornean bearded pig in Europe healthy and active.
The Graell’s tamarin exhibit really is terrible light wise, photography was not easy, but I managed to get this decent portrait.

Now onto the seabird aviary, maybe my favorite exhibit of the zoo. While maybe a bit overcrowded, the wave machine and the sits make the experience very pleasant. The only Indian pond-heron I managed to see on this trip what in there, unfortunately in a non-breeding plumage. Then a rarity in captivity, but one of the easiest species to see in the wild if you live close to the ocean, the single Ruddy turnstone of the zoo.

Three flamingo species are exhibited not far from the seabird aviary. Lesser, James and Andean flamingoes. The last two are very similar, the Andean one being bigger and having a duller yellow bill.

 

[Julio C Castro]

Wonderful photos and such awesome critters!

 

[Antoine]

Well, we already spoke about this thread together but I really enjoy the first step in Berlin Zoo. I wait for the next post

 

[Rayane]

Zoo Berlin (2/4) – Welt der Vögel - Africa


Welt der Vögel might be one of the best birdhouse around, it is definitely the most impressive one I’ve visited.
I counted 97 species housed in 4 continental areas, to what you can add an African and an Asian walkthrough in the middle. Most of the exhibits are great, all the birds having both inside and outside aviaries except for the ones kept in the walkthroughs and the Kiwis.

First with the African area, where the African quailfinches and the Western bluebill were top of the list.
The Quailfinches are remarkably interesting tiny birds, they’re almost always on the ground except for when they decide to buzz around for a bit.
The Western bluebill’s colors are truly magnificent, but its elusiveness and scared temperament made pictures extremely difficult. I waited for a long time before having him come out of the shadows of the back of the aviary.

Unsigned surprises are also housed in the same exhibit, a very good looking Uganda red-billed firefinch showed up out of a bush, alongside a Common waxbill and a Yellow-fronted canary.

Next door are housed two Black-bellied sandgrouses, a Long-tailed fiscal and a lone Emerald starling. Easier species to photograph, although on my last two visits the fiscal was nowhere to be seen.

The last rarities of the African part were Grey-headed olivebacks, Spotted palm thrushes (also present in the walkthrough) and Rüppell’s starlings. The Kiwi exhibited in a nocturnal habitat within this area was a no-show.

Nice surprises in the African walkthrough were the unsigned Common bulbul and Blue-naped mousebird.

And lastly, a smaller than expected African yellow white-eye (no bigger than an apple wedge) as well as the White-fronted bee-eaters.

 

[birdsandbats]

Zoo Berlin (2/4) – Welt der Vögel - Africa


Welt der Vögel might be one of the best birdhouse around, it is definitely the most impressive one I’ve visited.
I counted 97 species housed in 4 continental areas, to what you can add an African and an Asian walkthrough in the middle. Most of the exhibits are great, all the birds having both inside and outside aviaries except for the ones kept in the walkthroughs and the Kiwis.

First with the African area, where the African quailfinches and the Western bluebill were top of the list.
The Quailfinches are remarkably interesting tiny birds, they’re almost always on the ground except for when they decide to buzz around for a bit.
The Western bluebill’s colors are truly magnificent, but its elusiveness and scared temperament made pictures extremely difficult. I waited for a long time before having him come out of the shadows of the back of the aviary.

Unsigned surprises are also housed in the same exhibit, a very good looking Uganda red-billed firefinch showed up out of a bush, alongside a Common waxbill and a Yellow-fronted canary.

Next door are housed two Black-bellied sandgrouses, a Long-tailed fiscal and a lone Emerald starling. Easier species to photograph, although on my last two visits the fiscal was nowhere to be seen.

The last rarities of the African part were Grey-headed olivebacks, Spotted palm thrushes (also present in the walkthrough) and Rüppell’s starlings. The Kiwi exhibited in a nocturnal habitat within this area was a no-show.

Nice surprises in the walkthrough were the unsigned Common bulbul and Blue-naped mousebird.

And lastly, a smaller than expected African yellow white-eye (no bigger than an apple wedge) as well as the White-fronted bee-eaters.

What is wrong with that bee eater?

 

[JurassicMax]

Three flamingo species are exhibited not far from the seabird aviary

To me it's very interesting to see that Zoo Berlin almost has all the flamingo species(5/6), only the American flamingo is missing but can be seen in Tierpark Berlin.

 

[Rayane]

What is wrong with that bee eater?

Probably "only" a beak deformation, I bet it has a harder time eating though.

To me it's very interesting to see that Zoo Berlin almost has all the flamingo species(5/6), only the American flamingo is missing but can be seen in Tierpark Berlin.

It was discussed recently on anothet thread, the American flamingoes left in 2019, so up until then, they had them all. The Greater and Chilean are exhibited in the lake between the Gorillas and the Elephants.

 

[JurassicMax]

It was discussed recently on anothet thread, the American flamingoes left in 2019, so up until then, they had them all. The Greater and Chilean are exhibited in the lake between the Gorillas and the Elephants.

Where did the American flamingoes use to be in the zoo?
I really look forward to seeing more of your pictures on this thread!

 

[Rayane]

Where did the American flamingoes use to be in the zoo?
I really look forward to seeing more of your pictures on this thread!

According to ZTL, the last American flamingo was in fact a Chilean-American hybrid. It was probably kept in the same lake where the Chilean and the Greater still live today.

 

[Kakapo]

This is the kind of thread for me! I will keep an eye on updates of it. It gives me very good memories of my old (2012) visit to Berlin. I see that the birds of the birdhouse changed a lot. Did the trumpet manucode died, I suppose? They still keep Ceylon junglefowl and freckled duck?

 

[Rayane]

This is the kind of thread for me! I will keep an eye on updates of it. It gives me very good memories of my old (2012) visit to Berlin. I see that the birds of the birdhouse changed a lot. Did the trumpet manucode died, I suppose? They still keep Ceylon junglefowl and freckled duck?

You're thinking about the Pheasandry, which I will be dealing with in my last Zoo Berlin post. The Trumpet manucode was still alive, but Berlin doesn't keep Freckled ducks or Ceylon junglefowl anymore.

 

[TinoPup]

Stunning photos!

 

[Rayane]

Zoo Berlin (3/4) – Welt der Vögel - South America and Asia

Onto the South American part. Photography here was a real challenge as the light was even worse than in the African part due to the heavily planted aviaries, and with the colder weather, birds did not really fancy going outside that much.

Due to their small size and very elusive nature, both the Black-faced dacnis and the Black-and-white seedeater where really hard to shoot. Luckily, on a sunny end of the day, the male dacnis decided to go out and to pose for the picture. The even smaller seedeater never cooperated, leaving me with this pretty bad picture, better than nothing, I guess.

Another nice species on the list is the Blue grosbeak, beautiful bird, bigger than you might expect.

Then onto Asia where I didn’t struggle as much. I never saw the parrotfinches, but I managed to get good pictures of all the on-show Ptinilopus species. The last Black-winged starling in public holding in Europe was fairly easy to photograph, just like the very curious White-eared catbird.

And lastly, in this order, Orange-fronted fruit dove, Western orange-bellied fruit dove and Red-bellied fruit dove.

 

[TinoPup]

Stunning photos of some gorgeous birds. Do you primarily visit zoos for the aviaries?

 

[Rayane]

Stunning photos of some gorgeous birds. Do you primarily visit zoos for the aviaries?

Thank you!
I visit zoos for the fun of it, I enjoy it but also to add new species to my list, I like both mammals and birds equally. With 2136 bird species/subspecies kept publicly in Europe versus 1003 mammals (according to ZTL), there will be more birds than mammals in the end, but expect some very nice species in the posts to come.
Zoo Berlin has a great mammal collection, but they do not fit in the rarity criteria I introduced in my first post.

 

[Rayane]

Zoo Berlin (4/4) - Pheasandry

One of the oldest parts of the zoo, maybe my favorite. Probably not as incredible species wise as it was once, it is still full of nice birds. The light inside is not great for photography, this meant patiently waiting outside for the species to come and out and to stay still at the right at the right time. Sadly, not all the species cooperated. Some of the pictures had to be taken inside, I had to push my camera to its limits and above to get decent pictures.

Out of all the species I wanted to photograph, a couple were on top of the list: the sadly not there anymore White-bellied bustard, and the Trumpet manucode, which was more discreet that I thought.

Another highlight in the same aviary is the last Channel-billed cuckoo of the zoo.

In the African aviary, I managed to shoot the Brown-hooded kingfisher outside, but I had to photograph the mating Black-headed lapwings inside.

And finally of the two Kagus kept in Berlin.

Tierpark Berlin is coming up next

 

[Antoine]

Thank you @Rayane for this first part of your thread. Very nice pictures. I was really happy to review this fantastic collection !

 

[Rayane]

Tierpark Berlin (1/3) – Pheasandry

My favorite of the two Berliner zoos. A zoo I really enjoyed the first time I visited in 2018, and the three days I spent there this year did not disappoint. The collection is big and certainly unique, with an astonishing 56 ungulates listed on ZTL. I really like the way the exhibits look. Very simple enclosures, most of the times larger than average, very farm like in some cases.

The Crocodile house was closed, and the different passerines did not bother going outside, so no Burnished-buff tanager, no Green-mantled tanager. Hopefully next time.

The Pheasandry does look old, but I think it is still quite good. While simple and not very fancy, all exhibits are large, and the selection of species, even though shrinking, is full of rarities.
It is however in a very dark area of the zoo, with trees blocking sunlight and the aviaries being naturaly very dark, it was hard to take good sharp pictures. I pushed my camera to its limits and it shows. Maybe if the birds were less skittish my pictures would've been a bit better.

In this order, Chinese babax and Black-throated laughingthrush,

Lesser-necklaced laughingthrush and Scarlet-faced liocichla,

White-browed laughingthrush and Chinese Hwamei.

No luck with the Greenfinches but on my last visit the Grey-headed goldfinches showed up.

Last but not least, what would be a pheasandry without pheasants, a male Berlioz’s silver pheasant.

 

[Rayane]

Tierpark Berlin (2/3) – Mammals

One of the best big mammals collection in Europe, with 56 ungulates, more than 15 different Cervidae and a very good selection of carnivores.

I found out that the deers were more active and in the morning, most of the species curious enough to come check me out by the fence. Light is also better in the morning, if you really want to see and photograph the deer, best timing is at opening time, just before they get fed.

Heavy fencing, not ideal for the pictures but I managed to get decent pictures of the Barbary red deers, this Indian sambar female and the Javan rusas. I do not really like my pictures of the different elks, and the Bawean deers were always in the far back of their dark enclosure, maybe I’ll have to go to Poznan someday.

The hill area is home to the Caprinae species of the park, where the focus was the very impressive Marco Polo argalis. Bharal, Markhors, Alpine ibex, Takins, Gorals and Urials are also exhibited there. A very rich area, soon to be renovated into a new Himalaya area if I understood the plans correcly.

And lastly, two African species, a nice group of Gerenuks calls the Tierpark home, as well as a beautiful duo of Southern mountain reedbucks (I think they have more, but I only saw two at a time in the exhibit).

No Pikas, no Etruscan shrew, no Arabian small-spotted genet, all off-show. The White-bearded civets were active, but their cage is impossible to blur out in pictures, and the Central American margays exhibited next door were almost invisible.