I was back up to Scotland with work and so packed the camera to squeeze in a short session at Edinburgh Zoo. What I didn't take into account were flight delays so my time at the Zoo was cut in half from the intended 3 hours. A race against the clock on a zoo built up a very steep hill with two of the target animal species at the summit . On the short journey from the airport I had formulated a plan to make the most of the brief visit and target particular animals that are not common pr present in other zoos.
A quick warm up shot with the young Stella Sea Eagle.
and onwards up th hill to the targets. The aye-aye was nowhere to be seen as usual. Next on the journey up the hill were the Pygmy hippos. Now that is some strange dentition
Finally I reached the summit. The maned wolves were asleep and the giant anteater nowhere in sight, that was two targets off the list then. Then the anteater appeared but it was a difficult enclosure to get a good angle on it, especially in some harsh light. In fact I'm not sure what is a good angle for an anteater
When I'm at a zoo I always keep an eye open for native wild birds in the surroundingtrees that tend to gather picking any spare food up. Starting my descent I couldn't resist a quick photo of this blue tit on a spring twig
I passed back down past the big cat enclosures for some last shots. A movement in an enclosure signed as 'empty' caught my eye. A wolverine appeared for a brief moment before scuttling away into the undergrowth. This was a real bonus as it would have been a target animal if I had thought they still had one!!!
I had decided now it was game over as it was about 5 minutes to closing. I had earlier passed the enclosure of another target species the Pallas Cat which was asleep in its usual position in the holly tree. They even have a sign ' Can't see the cat...look in the Holly tree'. As I passed I glanced up and the tree was empty!!! The glare off the glass was terrible and I had to extend the lens hood with my hand. I was pleased with the result knowing what shy and elusive creature this is.
Overall an enjoyable brief session where I was fortunate to see quite a few of the animals that I was hoping to. However, its tiring work running around that huge hill in a short space of time having just stepped off a plane
Kurt these photos were taken 2 days ago on sunday. Worth a visit if you are there. It is about a 5 - 10 minute drive from the airport on the main road into Edinburgh known as the A8.
I like the shots of the pallas cat. I saw one last week in an outdoor enclosure in the cincinnati zoo. It was extremely upset by the fact that a cardinal had made a nest about 3 feet from it's enclosure. I think it drove the cat crazy seeing a feast just feet away and not being able to do anything about it.
Thanks for the reply Scott. This was the first time I have properly seen the Pallas Cat from 3 trips to the Zoo. Mind you that can also be said about the anteater and the wolverine.
Thanks Kevin. Its good to finally getting away from the dull winter light we get here in the UK and to be able to lower the ISO settings on the camera.
. On the short journey from the airport I had formulated a plan to make the most of the brief visit and target particular animals that are not common pr present in other zoos. 
