zoo atlanta is like so many other things in atlanta when compared to it’s bigger city bretheren; underfunded, undermanned, maligned, but ultimately a whole lot of fun when you drop the new york/l.a. envy and just appreciate it for what it is.

i love zoo atlanta. i think they do a great job with the space they have, showing a diverse set of animals in well maintained environments. the staff and volunteers are great and the keeper talks and other programming is top notch. my daughter loves it too, and since we are zoo members we go for an hour here or there whenever we want.

like this weekend, where we went specifically to check out the new parakeet adventure at zoo atlanta. it’s an open enclosure with hundreds of parakeets flying free. for $1 you can buy a seed stick and feed the ‘keets to your heart’s content.

it’s a blast. hundreds of beautiful birds all over the place. you are in close contact with them too, which is always a blast. it takes a few minutes to get oriented though, since the birds will come flying a high-speed right past your head.

they are also still being trained to be cool with the people so they are a bit shy, but patience is rewarded with the opportunity to feed several birds.

the thing i love about the exhibit, is that zoo atlanta has done something cool and fun, that both kids and adults will enjoy in very little space. which is critical when you have as little of that to go around as zoo atlanta does.

i put some more pix up in the atlanta metblog flickr group if you want to check them out.

enjoy.