Palawan Peacock Pheasant
Polyplectron emphanum
Numididae
Synonyms: Polyplectron napoleonis, Napoleon's Peacock-Pheasant
Yesterday I decided to drive down to the NYBG and on the way I saw a sign for the Bronx Zoo and decided to stop there instead. I haven’t done any photography at Zoos before so I thought that might be interesting. It was kind of funny as there were some people with huge lenses and really top notch cameras and there I was with my Sigma 28-200 on my D70 and the 50mm/1.8 on Karen’s D80. If you haven’t seen the 50mm it is very small and almost toy looking. The other shooters got a chuckle out of my equipment that is for sure. Despite my embarrassment and limitations I was able to get a few good shots. This was through glass with the D80 and the 50mm with a polarizer attached.
The Zoo wasn’t too busy and the weather was tolerable. A lot of the animals were out but I didn’t take the time to visit all the exhibits. I liked the World of Birds and that is where I got this picture of the endangered Palawan Peacock Pheasant. This is the male of the species. It inhabits the Central Philippines Island of Palawan and is under pressure from destruction of its habitat due to logging and mining on the island. Hunting has been banned but illegal hunting still continues for food and the live trade. There are fewer than 10,000 specimens in the wild and the Bronx Zoo has successfully bred the bird in captivity.
I had to clean out my brother in laws apartment this weekend. That was sad. We gave a lot of the stuff away to charity and sold a few things. We also kept some mementoes and furniture items. I was missing him greatly and we had some really emotional moments when we were going through his stuff.
Happy New Year!
3 comments:
Wow, that sure is beautiful. The texture on the wings is striking.
Happy New Year!
~Oswegan
My condolences and sorry you have to go through such sorrows at the end of the year. I hope the new year will be brighter.
I, too, thought about going to the SF Zoo to some photography during this holiday break, but as you might have heard about its closure due to the maulings. :(
God's peace to you. What a tough task you had this weekend. I hope it was good to stop off at the zoo and show those Big Lens Guys how it's done. This is a wonderful photo. How you capture beauty continuously amazes me. God bless your 2008.
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