Aloha from the Honolulu Zoo

I spent the afternoon yesterday strolling around the Honolulu Zoo. To be honest, my nostalgic parents had me on a mission. In 1981, we were in Honolulu for a few day during our move to Kuala Lumpur. We went to the zoo and my folks took a snapshot of my brother and me. They understandably want the same shot, 29 years later. How could I turn them down? Perhaps if they scan the old one and send it to me, I can put a "before and after" up, for kicks.



The Honolulu Zoo is a modest one, small, probably around 50 acres I would guess. The signage is some locations is quite old and of course, their fake rock concrete walls are distant ancestors to some of the fancier work you can see these days, like at my old workplace, the Bronx Zoo.




But none of that matters much if the animals are engaged, physically and mentally. And that seems to be the case for most of the tenants here.





Their African Savannah walk is small but the moats are laid out sensibly and you get pretty intimate views of the animals. It was the closest I'd been to these animals (except for one behind the scenes experience at the Bronx Zoo with a giraffe - the feeder let me pet her nose!).




I'd also say the keepers have a good sense of humor. Apparently they have rhinos that could be mating. Rather than close the exhibit so that the rhinos' "rough behavior" would be behind closed doors, they simply informed the public about what they could possibly see.


And this sweet sign must have been in response to concerned questions from visitors. It still tickles me they named him Bobbles. Unfortunately I didn't spot Bobbles yesterday.

Ducks...

I snapped this photo on a run last Tuesday morning, after another rainy, rainy night. It reminded me of when I worked at the zoo.

The Bronx Zoo is over 300 acres in size and is equipped with many small ponds and streams. Some of them are natural, others are by design. But all of them are quite lovely. And yet, after a storm, we'd inevitably find ducks sitting in oversized puddles.



One day, while walking to an exhibit which was under construction, a colleague stared at two ducks splashing around in a water-filled pothole. In mock exasperation, he plead to them, "There's a pond -- right over there! Why don't you use that?"

Passing these ducks in the ephemeral pool above - with the Harlem Meer just 100 yards away - reminded me of that. ...I suppose ducks like a bit of variety as much as any of us.

Have a good weekend!

Pandas and Vacation

Chances are you've noticed that I've been remiss on blog posts for the last few weeks. It's true; I've been lazy.



And it's only getting worse between now and September 10 -- I'll be traveling until then, for work and vacation. On the bright side, I'll be visiting some good spots for blog material and will be downright annoying with this site in the last weeks of September.

In the meantime, last weekend I got a chance to check out the developing Asia Trail exhibit at the National Zoo.



After all my time working on zoo exhibits at the Bronx Zoo, I was excited to see a good capital project develop in DC. And I liked that fence detail, too.

Of course, nothing beats my previous visit to the National Zoo in February 2006, when the curators there were kind enough to show me some of the cooling enclosures designed to keep the pandas comfortable on hot summer days. As you can see, they also indulged me in a snapshot with one of their famous tenants.





Please come back in a week or two for more New York, Plants and of course the Other Stuff.

Tuliptree

I was so pleased to see tuliptrees (Liriodendron tulipifera) planted at the new Cooper Square Hotel building on 3rd Avenue at 6th Street.

Tuliptrees are rare in Manhattan. To be honest, I've only encountered them in Central Park, where there is a lovely stand near Turtle Pond. In the Bronx, there's a community of tuliptrees near the Bronx Zoo's World of Birds building.



In some ways, the rarity of tuliptrees makes sense. They are narrow-canopied trees and wouldn't provide a wealth of shade on a street. And while the tulip-shaped, salmon-colored flowers (which bloom in summer) are lovely, they can also become a litter problem.

Alternatively, this narrow shape lends itself very well for the Cooper Union site, where you have a small courtyard set next to tall buildings.

And, like the World of Birds building, the staircase next to the tree provides people the opportunity to get close to the canopy and appreciate the flowers when the tree is in bloom, as you can barely make them out from the ground below.


Personally, I think Liriodendron is a slam-dunk to identify. The fastigiate form and the stripey bark are reliable identifiers, as is the mature habit. The habit always reminds me of a person who has their shoulders raised, sort of like the way you would look if you were saying, 'Well, what do you expect me to do??'


...That may be a stretch. I know.

Finally, the most obvious of identifying characteristics is the leaves. The broad leaves have four lobes which end in rounded points. The margins are entire.


To me, the leaf looks just like Hello Kitty.



It does, right?

Once, last summer, I described the leaves as Hello Kitty-shaped to my mother. On the following Valentine's Day, I received a Valentine from her with Hello Kitty on it. Written right next to Kitty's face, my mother had written "Tuliptree!"