Have a very  Donna!


                                             

yeah, you better leave quick.

I don't think he's too worried, Donna. Beauty hasn't been seen there for a few days.  Wonder where she is?

Hi Diana,

You raise a good point, and I believe other falcons have certain feathers shaped like that as well - for aerodynamics in flying.  I looked at other photos with a falcon's back to the camera, but I could not find an identical match to the one's I posted.

Below is Kaver and Mariah, and Tybropa Cree (CP).  I don't see the same pattern.  However, without seeing bands, we may never know for sure, but I had fun trying.  There have been a few times times from the ground the watchers did not think we were watching Beauty.  She looked lighter, but we eventually confirmed it was her.

~Joyce

     

And I think that's a good point, Joyce.  The lighting between the 2 pics was different-one being darker than the other.

Well, we know it's a solid "house" - a good place to raise kids!   

For sure! 

Just looking the place over.

        Great detective work, Joyce!

What a beautiful anniversary trip!

How absolutely adorable!!!

Lin Ping-- the baby panda in Thailand is also a character!  She's the first baby panda born in Thailand's zoo and they are wild about her.  This video is cute.  She is "helping" her keeper straighten up her living quarter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTj6n8GvRnw

Oh, Jeanne, how cute was that!  I'm still laughing-they're so much fun to watch!  Thanks!   

A Yun Zi Story
Posted at 4:15 pm February 23, 2010 by Heidi Trowbridge
I am not sure I have ever seen something as cute as a baby panda. Of course, baby anything is adorable, but this is even beyond that. I have been caring for each of the San Diego Zoo’s giant pandas for over three years now, and I have seen them breed, give birth, and grow into their own unique individual selves. Most often each day is fairly routine in regard to their care and training. Every so often, however, certain days make an impression on me and my fellow keepers.


On this particular day, Yun Zi displayed some very comical and endearing behaviors that reminded us how purely playful and entertaining these babies are. This was a very wet day. The rain had held off most of the morning, so we had decided to give Bai Yun and Yun Zi access to the outside enclosure. However, it started to rain before we had a chance to bring the bears back inside. Little Yun Zi just experienced his first real “rain day,� and I think he liked it! How do I know this? Here’s the clue…

As the rain continued, it collected in the bottom of the moat area along the edges of the enclosure. The tall landscaped brick wall that stretches across the front of the enclosure was muddy, slippery, and very steep. Keepers only trek that wall under favorable and necessary circumstances. But on this day, Yun Zi would change the rules! Shortly after the heavy rain started, he nonchalantly made his way down the wall and planted himself in the furthest, wettest corner of the moat. This was not his normal place to “hang out,� and why he picked the rainiest day of the year to go there, we will probably never know.

Once there, though, he happily played with a tuft of grass, ignoring any and all attempts we made to entice him back up the wall. He was soaking wet, completely happy, and playing with the most simple of toys: a few green strands of muddy grass. We all laughed at the irony of that! Here we have many fancy toys for his choosing, and he would rather play with a tuft of grass.

Well, after adoring him for a while, we all concurred that someone had to go get him out of the moat. I got nominated to climb down the wall, in the rain, and retrieve this venturesome bear. This meant picking him up by the scruff (as his mother does) and caring his then 19 pounds (8.6 kilograms) up the steep, slippery wall. I was less than thrilled to do this in the rain. As I made my way down the slope, Yun Zi was watching me closely as I slowly approached him. I saw his wide eyes as I got closer, and I suddenly realized that I was wearing a bright yellow rubber rain suit that he had probably never witnessed before. It obviously made him think that I was a big, scary, yellow monster coming to get him!

I didn’t want to scare the black off of him, so I surmised that the quicker this was over with, the better for both of us. I curled my hand around the back of his neck and scruffed him. I then supported his back end with my other hand and balanced each step back up the wall. Naturally he was wiggling and trying to bite my supporting arm with his small teeth. He does have great pressure in his jaws, but not enough to cause any damage through my rain jacket. As I reached the top, I handed him off to my fellow keeper, who also struggled to contain his feisty body. Yun Zi was gently put into the tunnel leading into the den to reunite with his mom, Bai Yun. I think she was happy for the help we provided in retrieving her youngster. After a look of disapproval at the monsters, Yun Zi sauntered into his den and continued playing with bamboo sticks for some time.

It doesn’t take much to entertain a baby panda. It also doesn’t take much for us to fall in love with a baby panda.

Heidi Trowbridge is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Sorry, the first time I posted, the pic was way to big. I resized it. This is Bucca, my chunk cat. He's huge but so was his daddy.

How cute is he!!  Our Toby (also a chunk cat) loves to lay in that same position. Thanks for sharing! 

He showed up after TC and the whinny guy (whoever he was)

Kaver came back as late as March 7th a few years ago. I know because he gave me and Mary Tyson a great  present....his arrival! I miss him. 

I miss him too, Donna and thanks for the answer to my question. I thought it was around this time that Kaver came back.  I looked back to last year and Archer showed up here around the 20th but who knows when or if he will return. Only time will give us that answer.

I know many must be thinking about Archer and if he is going to return to Rochester.  If I'm not mistaken, isn't this the week or close to it, that he should be coming back.  It seems that Kaver came back around now.  What is the latest that Kaver came back? Just wondering...

Orville is happy now that he can breath again. 

Donna-you have way, way too much time on your hands.   
Congrats on your 2000th!!

            Great pics and thanks for posting!

  I loved that cam.  Bummer!

Me too..