We had an impromptu visit to Cotswold Wildlife Park today and, needless to say, my camera came with me! It was a good chance to put the Fuji 100-400mm to the test. We didn't make it to the Madagascar enclosure before it shut which was unfortunate as that is one of the best places for shots of animals without cages in the way, but here are a few offerings from other parts of the park! 

First port of call was the Red Panda enclosure. They look like big teddy bears! It was good to see one of them actually awake and moving about, though the bright grey sky behind the tree wasn't very inspiring (or helpful!) photographically!

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I always love photographing the Meerkats... such expressive faces, they look like little bandits!

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Butter wouldn't melt...

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The Giraffe are fascinating creatures to watch and so very bizarre! This one was making life difficult for himself (or maybe herself... I didn't inspect!) by trying to pick up hay from the ground, rather from the high level feeding stations. This involved a clumsy semi-split style stance and more than once he/she nearly fell over! Perhaps that explains the expression! DSCF6418 DSCF6421 DSCF6427 DSCF6440 Cute baby Zebra! DSCF6443   DSCF6452

For the second day running (yesterday we visited Richmond Park and The Isabella Plantation) I had fun photographing Mandarin Ducks, their colours are so stunning, they make great models!

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There was a lot of activity amongst the duck community... they were definitely full of the joys of Spring!

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...the males were fighting for the attention of the females! DSCF6484 DSCF6492

A quick visit to the Penguins next. This is one enclosure I am not so keen on at Cotswold and whilst I don't doubt for a minute that the penguins are very well looked after, I do wish they had a more inspiring place to live! Maybe one day...

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Not sure what that is that that one dived down to get from the bottom of the pool! DSCF6546

Back to the Meerkat enclosure, couldn't resist another few shots!

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If looks could kill!

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The Prairie Dogs are fun to photograph too... 

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One of the Macaws graced us with his/her presence very briefly before retreating inside ... just enough time to capture a bit of that spectacular colour.

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The Otters nearly didn't appear at all today, we went back to the enclosure for a third time on the off-chance that they would put in an appearance. Thankfully a couple of them did, albeit only briefly for a quick drink! DSCF6640

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We are lucky to have a place like Cotswold Wildlife Park so near by. The animals seem well cared for, happy and healthy and the grounds are beautiful. We had a lovely afternoon wandering about! As for the 100-400mm lens, all in all I can safely say I'm pretty delighted with it! It will take a bit of getting used to but it's good to be able to get out and about and practise. Seabirds are the next challenge... :)