Photographing Exotic Birds in San Diego – Part 1 | Welcome to NancyBirdPhotography.com

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Photo of Fire Tufted Barbet — The Fire Tufted Barbet, looking rather content
in the San Diego Zoo Aviary. This bird is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
ISO 2500; f/2.8; 1/500 Second

California Dreamin’

It’s been a long, cold, and dreary winter in Michigan. On most days, I bravely put on my winter wear like most Michiganders and venture outside with my camera. However, my winter weariness skyrocketed when another Polar Vortex returned to the Midwest, bringing arctic high temperatures and brutal winds.

Something snapped. I just had to get out of Michigan. My husband and I decided to fly to paradise for a week. San Diego.

What a difference! Mild, warm and sunny weather… refreshing and nurturing coastal breezes. Just what we needed.

Since we only had a week, we decided to explore the locations that guaranteed a wide variety of wild (but captured) birds: The San Diego Zoo, Safari Park and Botanical Gardens.

Generally, I am not fond of taking my camera to zoos, but the facilities at the San Diego parks are known nation-wide to be outstanding, expansive resources that simulate the animals’ natural environment and focus on wildlife conservation. The parks harbor a wide variety of wild birds from all over the world.

Because so much walking is necessary at both parks, I decided not to haul around my heavy 300mm lens. Instead, I took my 135 mm 2.0 lens, along with a 1.4 extender. I did not see every bird in the aviaries and other enclosures in the parks (impossible given the multitude of hiding places inherent in the natural habitat provided) and I did not photograph every bird I saw.

Below please find Part I of what I consider to be my best photos from the San Diego Zoo & Safari Park. Since most of the birds were from far away lands and unknown to us, we took photos of the ID display boards to help us with identification when we got home.

Photo of Collared Lory — Collard Lory – A species of Parrot – found in tropical and subtropical forests found in the Figian rainforest.
ISO 2500; f2.8; 1/640 Second

Photo of Great White Pelican — Great White Pelican – Found in SE Europe, Asia, and Africa. ISO 100; f/4.0; 1/640 Second

Photo of African Wattled Lapwing — African Wattled Lapwing, Found in sub Saharan Africa
ISO 100; f/4.0; 1/640 Second

Photo of Asian Glossy Starling — Asian Glossy Starling. Lives in tropical and sub tropical -in Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. ISO 4000; f/2.8; 1/1000 Second

Photo of Yellow Billed Stork — The aquatic Yellow Billed Stork is from Africa south of the Sahara and in Madagascar
ISO 250; f/3.2; 1/800 Second