Zoo Day.

A mostly grey day with sun in the morning.

I wore my big yellow jacket to the zoo this morning but by the time I'd pruned this year's growth from the trunk of a willow and pulled some weeds the coat came off and I worked in my vest top. I kept an old fleece handy in my bucket of tools but never felt the need to put it on.

My biggest job today was to weed the wood chip in the smaller of the two play areas. After all the recent rain everything was very wet so as I went along I did some deep hoeing and then levelled with a rake. This resulted in quite a ploughed field look but I'm hoping that loosening up the woodchip will help it dry more easily and provide a softer surface. I got all the weeding done but gave up with the raking when I felt my back had had enough. When I go to the zoo it's left up to me to decide what to do and I usually plan next week's work when I walk around taking photos. 

Last week there was talk of a couple of budgies being donated to the zoo. I didn't see any budgies but as I worked in the play area I was serenaded with wolf whistles, squawks and calls from one of the cages tucked away from the public area. These were coming from a pair of very vocal African Grey parrots. I don't know their story yet. Other new animals were two guines pigs born last night. One of the other volunteers found them when he was cleaning the petting barn and naturally I went in to have a look. Guinea pigs are funny because the young are born looking like miniature adults. They were too tucked away for me to take a photo when I went round later.

A couple of mini photo stories.

A very happy duck having a splash about.

Two of the free roaming guinea fowl decided the grass was greener in the goat pasture and hopped up onto the fence and then down on the other side.

The three guinea fowl that were left behind simply couldn't work out how to get into the goat pasture and just ran up and down along the fence frantically peeping while the other two ignored them. I didn't wait to see the outcome, I wish I had now.

When I came home I threw some washing in the machine, it's now on the overhead airer as there wasn't any wind outside. Then came coffee and a break after which Peter and I put up the venetian blind in his study. This was the free one that came when one of the two blinds ordered was bent during delivery and the firm replaced the whole order. Then there was one last job to do which was to wash the front windows as all the recent wild weather had left them clouded with salt.