The Dickerson Park Zoo hosted an early evening Fall Fest for Friends of the Zoo. We enjoyed free popcorn and fed the giraffes tree trimmings. There was a young giraffe – clearly smaller than the others and not getting as much food from the visitors because the adults were better positioned to the people on the deck with their height.

It was a cool evening. The parrots, that are usually a noisy welcome to the zoo, were already retired for the evening. The peacocks were out as usual…not as grand as earlier in the summer because the males are molting. They were walking about with very few tail feathers. We spotted one that must have been a hybrid of a normal and leucistic bird.

The cheetah cubs were out but not very active.

The ostrich in the enclosure next to cheetahs was moving about…looking for a last snack of the day.

The two grey crowned cranes were active (one even flew toward the other!). The two appeared to be molting – there were more feathers than usual on the ground in their enclosure. I took a picture of the head feathers from the back…a different perspective than usual.

The floor of the flamingo enclosure had even more feathers!

There is only one lion left. She was napping. Evidently, she is elderly, and the zoo is not going to stress her by adding another lion into her environment.

The peccary family was in a pile in their enclosure…the babies snuggled with their parents. There was not enough light to get a good picture, but it was fun to watch then move around a bit – getting comfortable.

The fall display just inside the zoo was my last photography stop. It was getting dark, and we had enjoyed our visit.