Our destination today was the Albuquerque BioPark. It's a complex including the Rio Grande Botanic Garden, Albuquerque Aquarium, Rio Grande Zoo, and Tingley Beach. Our combo tickets gave us entry to all of these venues, but we didn't make it to the beach. The so-called "beach" is actually a series of recreational ponds along the Rio Grande River. They are used for fishing, boating, and hiking.
We spent most of the morning in the botanical gardens. Many of the plants were in bloom, including a variety of beautiful irises.
One of the most unusual sights we saw was a large complex built for small trains. It's called a "garden railroad." The whole layout must be sturdy and weather resistant.
This bird looks like some kind of kingfisher to us. One issue we ran into at the BioPark is that many if not most exhibits are either not labeled or lacking in pertinent information.
This dragon guards the entrance and the castle of the children's garden.
When we left the botanical gardens, we paid a visit to the next door aquarium. That's where we saw this comical cuttlefish. Its long skirt like fin is soft and continuous. It is used to propel the animal through the water. Despite the "fish" in its name, this creature is a cephalopod, related to squid and octopuses.
After we had viewed the denizens of the aquarium, we drove to a nearby Subway for lunch and then to the zoo. The zoo has a meerkat exhibit--my favorite zoo animals. There are lots of "zoo babies," born at the zoo within the last three years or so, including twin chimpanzees and young orangutans. I never get tired of watching the apes.
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