In a nod to all the pet birds out there, this blue parakeet or Budgie made the cut. I had a bird that looked just like him when I was little. His name was Pitty Pat.
Tag Archives: mystic aquarium mystic ct
Photo #3
Who’s a pretty bird? I seem to have a knack for bird photos. There were quite a few birds in the top 10 last year. Here’s a pretty Cockatiel.
Mystic Aquarium Part 2
Yes, I know this has taken me awhile but here it is. How we spent the 2nd half of our trip.
Lunch was at the Penguin Cafe.
Although there were a few tables inside in the air conditioning they were all taken. Most seating was outside under the big umbrellas. Lunch was simple fast food, hot dogs, fries or onion rings, hamburgers, chicken fingers etc. I think we filled up on drinks because we were all sweating so bad.
After lunch we headed inside the Aquarium. Here the lighting was subdued. It was crowded. There was a shark/ray touch tank, a jellies display, a large variety of different tanks showcasing the various environments such as river, pond, rain forest etc. All enjoyable and all pretty much the usual fare.
The Sea Lion Show was a bit different from the ones I’ve usually seen. It started with a seal being paraded around right in front of the audience and then the show itself seemed to concentrate more on natural behaviors than the contrived tricks you normally see. It was both educational and fun.
From there we went back outside to cross to another building where there was a special display about Frogs and the theater. We watched the Angry Birds short movie (15 minutes) in 4 D so yes, we felt the wind blow and water sprinkled over us while the action on the screen seemed to jump out at us.
After the movie we exited into the special exhibit area where a shark cage was predominantly displayed so you could take pictures. There was a reptile section with american alligators and the special frogs exhibit. Getting photos of the frogs was hard because of the crowds around each display. I tried to get a picture of the poison tree frogs , both tiny and brightly colored, but it was very difficult through the glass of their terrariums.
Following the Frog Exhibit we headed back outside, through the marsh again. The frogs and turtles were still hanging out but we didn’t linger. We were headed for the penguin display.
I made the mistake of going into the air conditioned lower level to see the penguins as they swam underwater. When I came back out the heat and humidity fogged the camera lens. As far as I know there is nothing to do but wait when that happens. Wiping it off doesn’t seem to work.
Sadly it was still fogged when we went past the Northern Fur Seal exhibit and Mr. Seal was posing and grooming on a rock.
It made it impossible to get clear photos. I was surprised how big Mr. Fur Seal is. For some reason I always thought they were smaller animals.
One last stop at the Beluga exhibit and it was time to leave. I think everyone was tired from the heat but it was a good, relaxing day. Well worth the drive.
Mystic Aquarium
Its still, as the weathermen say, HHH. High Pressure, Hot, Humid, 3 H’s. I like the heat but I will admit the humidity is starting to wear me out. The forecast was for a break in the humidity if not the heat so Nancy and I decided to take the kids to the Mystic Aquarium. I was thinking it would be inside so we’d avoid the oppressive outdoors anyway. I’ve never been to Mystic Aquarium so what did I know. I based my opinion on Boston’s Aquarium.
Anyway, quite a bit of Mystic Aquarium is outside and to my way of thinking some of the most unique and best exhibits.
It’s not a bad drive to Connecticut and we made it right on time according to the On Star directions and that was with several minor traffic back ups.
The Beluga exhibit is right there when you first go through the entrance.
I could have spent the whole visit there even though it was hot and humid. The whales are sometimes called the Canaries of the Sea because of the multiple vocalizations they can make. They did not disappoint us. They blew and chirped and stuck their heads out of the water.
At the observation windows they seemed as fascinated by the humans as we were of them.
Following the path toward the Penguin exhibit we passed the seals & Sea lions.
Then it was decision time, right took us through the “Marsh” on a boardwalk and left took us to the Penguins. The kids made a bee line for the boardwalk and eagerly inspected the duckweed and plants for turtles and frogs.
I really liked the boardwalk. We spotted quite a few creatures once we adjusted our eyes to finding them in the weeds.
We had an audience of 3 little ducks too that added comic relief.
Next up was the Budgie Tent.
Those birds are always fun.
There were cockatoos and other small birds native to Australia as well as the Budgies.
By then It was time for a break and we hadn’t even gotten inside yet!
Roger Williams Park and Zoo
Back from Maine life did not slow down. Summer is flying by. The deadline for the opening of my stall at Cape Cod Crafters was looming so much of my time was concentrated on getting the type of pictures they said would sell for my cards. A quick photo shoot at Nantasket and then back home to fold and package cards.
Finally the big day came, the stall was open and I was hopeful life could return to normal.
That’s when Nancy reminded me that we owed the kids their annual summer outing. I enjoy it as much as they do so we had to squeeze that in. We wanted a zoo or Aquarium so we had narrowed it down to 3 choices…the Zooquarium in Yarmouth (Cape Cod), Mystic Aquarium (Mystic , CT.) or Roger Williams Park and Zoo in Providence , RI. I compared prices and travel time and Roger Williams was the closest and in the middle for price so Roger Williams it is.
I hadn’t been to the Zoo there in quite a while. I went the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular the last 2 years and I like the Carousel Village for pictures but it’s been closer to 20 years since I’ve been to the Zoo itself.
Here are some of the sights and scenes from the trip.
We saw a dominate tortoise “beating up” on his “lesser” cage mate. Yup. It’s 2 males jousting for dominance. It’s pretty clear which one was winning.
No Lions, Tigers and bears but for once the Snow Leopard was where it could be seen.
The Flamingos were nice and pink.
And look at that tongue on the giant ant-eater.
We spotted a cute little red panda. That was quite a hit.
Our national bird, The American Eagle was majestic as he perched in his enclosure.
I think it’s safe to say that we all had a good time.
Too many pictures, not enough room!
The kids played in the “misters” and we found the green eggs to go with the ham, but I do not like Green Eggs and Ham, I do not like them Sam I AM (Dr. Seuss)