saturday the weatherforecast was rather bad - but they did say that we should have some sun in the mornig and then it would turn rainy and cold...

well, it was cold - and the moment i left the house it started to rain - by the time i got to goldau it just about poured. no - i'm not the person to let that stop me - so i grabbed the long raincoat with the big hood - the backpack (forgot the raincover at home - duhhhhhhhh) - and because with this rain the camera would probably have to be packed away most of the day - only the camera and tele lens

the owls were feeling rather dreary - looked down at me from various corners where they could huddle under a "roof" - only one of the bearded owls had a quick fly over to see what idiot had come out - but she soon returned to her spot in the heights.

obviously the cats won't be out in this weather - neither the wildcats nor the lynx will show a hair. 

but hey - the wolves are snoozing away - and the bears are out and about - playing and then snoozing. i guess i'll spend the day with the bears!

yes - very wet morning - if you look carefully you can see the waterdrops flying in all directions when Arko shakes his head - i guess he didn't like to have a wet snout :)  but by lunchtime the sun broke through and we had true april weather - sun - rain - rain - sun and rain - sun - rain - and then finally just sun... just in time for the bear & wolf feeding - so much nicer for the people who want to watch.  takis and arko had to wait a bit longer because just as the feeding was supposed to start the wolves decided to treat us to a concert - not at all usual at that time of day - except for takis who was getting very impatient indeed, everybody enjoyed it. but they all got their treats, apples and the standard honey-water/fish/apple/berry/nut ice block for the bears and beef strips for the wolves (they get their real meals in the morning and in the evening).  
...click on the bear picture to see the other bear/wolf pictures:

now it really is time to say good bye and head home - it's been a very good day!

so on i go - say hello to the dwarf mice and oder little rodents - they would out and about - munching grains and playing in their cozy homes in the rodent-house. a not so quick hello to the pine marten (baummarder) - he has a nice and cozy new hollowed out tree stump that he can curl up in and doesn't care what the weather is doing all around him - just peeks out at me a few times and goes back to sleep.

in the late afternoon it really is time to move on - but there are a few flowers that deserve a quick stop - and there are kids playing at the waterfountain despite the cold. but i'm just in time for the lynx to come out for an explore and a bit of a play and relax in the sun - then they head back up into their favorite tree.  a quick hello to the wild cats - only two here to say hello - a rather grumpy hello at that. 
... if you click on the flowers - you can see the cats too: