The one from Kate relates to the ruff we have in the Flamingo Paddock. The breeding plumage is really showing now and, in the males, this is a flambouyant ruff of feathers around the neck which can be raised to form a frame around the head. I have been keeping an eye on the males progress on their plumage change for a few weeks now as I had noticed the different colouration of the ruff feathers starting to show. Kate's email was to tell me that one has changed significantly enough now to warrant a change of their ID sign. This is the only species in the zoo that we have two ID signs for to show plumage at different times of the year as it is the only bird we have, in which this change is significant enough for some visitors to think it is a different species.
The ruff breeding plumage ID file was in Quark software, so I needed to change it across to Illustrator software, and then once I had two copies printed and laminated, I took them up to the Flamingo Paddock to swap them over with the ruff non-breeding plumage ID.
Joe's email related to the okapi interpretation panels that I began moving last week. Eddie, one of the maintenance guys, came over and I went with him to show what needed moving to where. There are two thick wood posts that need to be sawn off at ground level (they are concreted into the ground) and then the board and posts need to be taken to the end of the new okapi paddock where the posts need to be sawn to length and then cable-tied to the railings securely before I can rescrew the interp panel back in place over the board that sits between the two posts. He said he'd come back after 2pm to do the job.
Most of the rest of the day was taken up with the tailless whip scorpion. It had been decided that the ID sign for this species that is going in the underground section of our nocturnal house would have a picture, but rather than the full painted illustration it would have just my original drawing on it. This means stopping any further painting to the illustration I was doing for this species and just using my drawing. However to fit in with the present signage in this area I would need to convert my pencil drawing into a silhouette. So after carefully enhancing my drawing by going over the main lines to make them more solid and clear, I scanned the drawing and converted it to a greyscale then to a bitmap image. Basically converting to bitmap makes the lines either black or white, no tonal qualities so it then becomes a black line drawing on a white background. I then magnified the image so I could see individual pixels and made sure there were no gaps in the lines that each one was strong and continuous. Then using the bucket tool I filled the animal shape in with solid black colour. Once done I then reversed the image so that it became a white animal silhouette on a black background.
The signage in the underground area is backlit and up until now comprised solely of species common/scientific name and a small block of text. Each sign is a different 'freeflow' shape so that it fits into 'holes' on the 'rock' that the area is decorated to imitate. I opened up the previous ID file for the enclosure that the tailless whip scorpions were due to go in, duplicated the file and then changed the names and text to that of the whip scorpion. Then I added the silhouette that I had made and juggled things slightly to get it to fit into the limited shape and space that I had to play with.
Once done I printed a rough copy and went across to Twilight World to check the sign in position to make sure all the text and the silhouette could be seen. All was ok, so now I just wait until the animals are in and I can print a proper copy off to put in place when needed.
Whilst in the area I noticed that one of the other text signs was hard to read in the lighting levels... it's a nocturnal house so it is pretty dark in places. Back in the studio I printed off a copy of the sign but made it lager so that the text should be easier to read. I will laminate it tomorrow and I'll put it up then too.
I had gone across to the end of the okapi paddock at 2 pm and waited for Eddie from Maintenance to arrive to sort the last of the okapi boards out. I was stood there about 15 mins when Anna, my co-worker, came out to tell me that Eddie was on another job. Hopefully, we'll pick that up again tomorrow and get it done.
It was lovely to see both the male and female okapi out in their new paddocks today. As it is right by the building I work in, I'll get to see more of them as I pass by, going here and there. It was brought home to me earlier, just how lucky I was to see them, when I was talking to a visitor as I had waited for Eddie. She was older than me and had never seen an okapi before. It's easy when you work somewhere that has a rare animal to forget just how precious it is to see it. When visitors have never seen something before, like the okapi, and you hear them talk of it and notice their reaction in their voices and faces... it just brings it home how lucky I am to see such animals most days I work there. Both Rubani and Lodja looked calm and quite settled in their new surroundings and were both studiously stripping leaves off of trees and bushes through the fence. It won't be long before their long tongues have nabbed every leaf within reach.
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