Weekend trip the the aquarium

In the last several weeks, I've not been blogging much. In fact, I've been rather scarce in all forms of social media that I participate in - blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail. The main reason for this is that a few weeks ago, I was assigned a new position at my workplace, and it's really been pulling my focus away from other things. After 10-12 hours sitting at my computer at work, I've really not been up to turning on the computer home. Also, birding for me has been slow lately, (and usually that's what I blog about) in that I've not been able to go on lunches or weekdays at all, and we've not gone chasing after confusing fall warblers. We did spend a little time on Sunday at Mt. Wachusett to check out a local hawk-watch, but after a few Broad-wings, Sharpies, and local Turkey Vultures and Red-tails, we headed back home so that I could get ready for work that evening.

This past rainy Saturday, we decided to head over to the New England Aquarium, which I finf fun every few years. The first thing you encounter upon entering the aquarium, are the penguin exhibits. The aquarium has some beautiful space set aside for the penguins, which surround the base of the four story ocean tank. The first penguins you see are African Penguins (also known as jackass penguins). The next ones (if you circle to the right) are the Little Blue Penguins, and the Rockhopper Penguins.
On the north and south sides of the aquarium are reserved for exhibits - different tanks that hold the most beautiful variety of coral and fish:
This last photo is one of my favorites - with the wide-eyed look of the young girl in the corner checking out the squid.

In the center of the aquarium is the 4-story ocean tank, filled with lots of cool things like eels, rays, sharks, turtles and a variety of fish.
This is the view from the top of the tank - and even with the likes of the above in the tank, I still want to go swimming in it...


Check out the eyes on the ray in this video!



Definitely worth a stop if you find yourself in Boston!