Madagascan Hissing Cockroach

I had a lovely shot of two Mara and a fairly good one of Apache the American Bald Eagle coming into land, but William stroking a Madagascan Hissing Cockroach had to be my blip.

We had two hours of snuggles and reading books in bed this morning before getting up at 08.30 and being on the way to Whipsnade by 09.30 (amazing what you can do when you only have one child at home).

William was allowed to decide what he wanted to do/see when we got to the zoo. Firstly we booked a late session at the soft play, then headed to the Elephants to see the three week old new baby. Said baby was hiding behind an Aunty and under Mum's legs so there was no chance of a good shot. From there I was taken to the Discovery Centre. Now W has never really shown any interest in the creep crawlies before and we normally only go in there if I need to warm up, but today he wanted to show me everything. There was a half term special bug talk which is where William got to stroke the cockroach as well as a huge stick insect. He surprised me by shouting out the correct answer when the explainer asked how many body parts an insect has. When I asked him how he knew the answer he used pre-schooler logic, looked at me as if I am daft and said "Well I am four!"

After lunch we rode on the train, then as it started to rain we caught the bus half way round the zoo, walked back to see the bird show. Again W amazed me and I realised how much information the kids do absorb from the shows at the zoo. The trainer explained that she was going to bring out one of the worlds most successful predators. Then she asked if anyone knew what it was? The kids around were shouting, "owl, eagle" etc. At the top of his voice William shouted "Harris Hawk!" The trainer looked straight at him and said "You think it's a Harris Hawk do you? Well you are right!" How proud was I.

After the Birds it was the Sealion show, the last until the spring and then an hour in the soft play. William had a picnic tea in the car on the way home and we were home for N&P to drop Carys back home for bedtime.

All in all a lovely day.