Lovely Weekend Part 3

On Saturday, we checked out the Living Desert State Park, in Carlsbad. There was much more to it than we first thought. It was a sort of combined zoo and garden. I know lots of folks hate the thought of seeing animals in zoos, but many of the ones in this zoo, like the majestic eagle, were injured, and would not have survived in the wild, so this is providing a safe place for them to live, and be treated for whatever injuries they have.

The little guy above wasn't injured, and was just flying around overhead in an aviary that we walked thru at the zoo portion of the state park. He was just such a little cutie, I couldn't resist snapping a shot.

Several of the cacti were in bloom, or getting ready to bloom. A barrel cactus produces such pretty yellow flowers right up at the top of it!

Ok, this isn't a cactus bloom, but in the greenhouse, along with the cactus, was a beautifully blooming hibiscus tree, and I got this lovely shot of one of the flowers overhead!

Enjoy!

Tropical Flowers

Aren't these flowers beautiful? I took them yesterday in between morning showers. The drops on their petals are "real", not me misting them with a water bottle or anything! For the most part, they are different colors of hibiscus, I believe.

I thought this pink one was just wonderful. I love the way the rain drops just seem to glisten on the petals!

These two look like twins, don't they? I did get another shot of one of them in a super close up, but I do like this one of the two of them.

These last flowers aren't hibiscus - they are called sky flowers and are really very delicate, little flowers. When we walked by all these flowers later in the day, when the rain drops had dried, I didn't think they looked nearly as photogenic, altho still quite beautiful. Rain is a good thing, I guess! Enjoy!