We were featured on the local news for LGBTQIA+ Pride month!
I kinda wish I said different things but I still think I did really well considering. Plus CBS8 did really good by us. Thanks CBS8! Especially Mario Escovado. Aly and Cheryl at SBDC too. I had the big sick at the time this was recorded. I’m proud that I pulled it together to do the interview. The night before I practiced a script, none of that is in the short clip but the whole process took all of me still. I tapped up exactly where the furniture, laptop, myself had to be placed for the shoot. After, I knew I over did it.
What I really love about penguins is that they’re unique. They’ve been around for around 60 million years and are designed like no other birds. They are an anomaly that doesn’t make sense yet they’ve been around thriving for a very long time. They’re easy to connect to in an emotional way because we can relate to them.
What I love is that they also mentioned the Birch Aquarium Little Blue Penguins too!
I love a lot about penguins, sure what I mentioned in the clip is true but especially fit LGBTQIA+ month I wish I pointed out that penguins definitely are the queer birds that keep things simple without much fluff. They definitely may be odd but they got all the right stuff.
Recently we traveled to the Palm Springs area in California on a mission to assist Executive Photographer (and Co Owner of Surrounded By Penguins), Scarlett, with her Birb Biologist job. I love when this opportunity comes up because I feel like I’m a helpful assistant to wildlife caring people. We also are directly helping with research as we are collecting generic samples of the birds we catch. A few choice penguins and I are always happy to tag along and help with these endeavors.
As usual, I tagged on other ventures for Surrounded By Penguins while up there. In the interest of wanting to provide excursions and tours to surrounding wildlife conservation areas to include zoo’s, aquariums, and the like we decided to include attending a special event at the Palm Desert Living Desert Zoo and Botanical Garden. We obtained 3 genetic samples of wild birds that have established territories at the zoo. It’s pretty amazing that this zoo provides sanctuary knowingly and passively to endangered wildlife. The habitat maintained at many zoo’s actually provide the surrounding wildlife with a sanctuary. You’ll see deer at the Safari Park in San Diego for example along with both local and migratory birds and other wildlife. What animals have you seen in zoo’s that cohabitate with the zoo animals?
The Executive Penguin literally surrounded by Penguin Ambassadors before going to the Glow in the Park event at the Living Desert Zoo in Palm DesertLit up kangaroo mice greet us at the parking lot gate.This place has been in existence for 50 years and we just found out about it!?
Since we were collecting genetic samples we got to visit the Living Desert Zoo before opening. During the day we got to see these amazing lanterns already set up for the Glow in the Park event. We could only imagine what they looked like at night.
We wouldn’t get our chance to see the lanterns lit until the the events closing night. The unobstructed colorful views during the day became much more appreciated as we found ourselves shoulder to shoulder much of the time at night. But wow wow wow were the lanterns amazing. Day or night the creative detailed figures were impressive. We were blown away by the correctly coordinated colors, fabric designs, accurate proportions to scale, and many of the lantern animals moved! Not one person in the collective mob was unimpressed and many people were still interested in seeing the actual animals that were not lanterns too. To give respect to the animals, the lights were strategically placed and some areas were off limits.
Maybe some animals that are nocturnal were visible? These naked mole rats are blind so do they know when it’s day or night? Without the ability to see, how else can we gauge if it’s day time or night time?
I found it amazing that they had different ‘rooms’ for different age ranges, toilet use, etc. Even without the ability to see, the moles seems to instinctually know where they belong.
Although it was difficult, I took many many many pictures and will share some below.
Not a naked mole rat. What a trickster!
During the event, Afie, Syd and I decided that from now on only one of them would be on my shoulder while in public. Both of them at the same time proved to be way too much to worry about. The ippies (Mippy, Sippy and Zippy) are definitely the most readily and photogenic of the ambassadors. Syd and Afie seem to enjoy seeing the ongoings from our shoulders and agree to being in selfies occasionally. Most times they are like the family pictures with the one kid that looks hilariously awkward on purpose.
As usual, we all still had a great time. Enjoy!
Of course butterflies are pollinators too.Birds that consume nectar are pollinators too! Some birds are seed disperses. Others take on other roles. What other animals help pollinate plants?Many birds fulfill many roles that help us and our environment keep safe and healthy. What vital role do Condors fulfill? Most people travel to this area for the rare opportunity to see Bighorn Sheep in the wild. Many participate in the annual count. If you see a rock move in the distance here, it might be a Bighorn!Oooo pegasus drawn carriage? Why not? Panda walk way! Let’s go! Whoa…. This was a very large, impressive, elaborate structure. They had many you could walk through, but this dragon might had been the center piece. The detail in the reptiles was incredible.Alligator or crocodile? Can you tell the difference?
Some of the SBP’s pengie’s, Amy, and I recently visited the San Diego Zoo to check out the new explorer area. What a great time! I got so distracted by all the neat new exhibits and attractions that we ran out of time to see the African Penguins. Can you believe that?! Anyways… Here’s some of what you could expect to see on your visit.
A few of the Surrounded By Penguins rode the sea jelly swing ride at SeaWorld San Diego yesterday. Some pengie fwens just watched because they didn’t want to ride or were too nervous to ride. Some were even too anxious to watch. All okay feelings.
TooToo and Syd giving each other quick hugs before the ride starts. TooToo giving some attention and reassurance to the fwens in the clear backpack. Can you see Afie our African Penguin Ambassador in the clear backpack?Sippy and Mr Bigalow before the ride.TooToo sees Pickalowlow’s yellow foot and beak hanging out of the wheelchair basket. Pickalowlow must be covering and comforting some stuffy plushy fwens in the basket.
In the video, TooToo really takes to flight 1 minute into it. I didn’t know what to do but hang on and keep filming!
You can’t see the other stuffy plushy fwens in the video but off screen Syd was squawking in fear and excitement the whole time, excited to be flying but scared because we were so high up. During the ride, Mr Bigalow was bouncing around on hys chain. And Sippy was holding on for dear life in their holster. It was so cute to see all of them so excited and happy. TooToo, Syd, Sippy, Mr Bigalow and I were so proud to had braved the ride. At the end we could say we all enjoyed the experience. All the anxious feelings leading up to the moment the ride started were worth experiencing. The ride ended with us wanting to ride again. Good thing we recorded TooToo flying so we can relive the experience when we watch it because I just realized…. Our Penguin Ambassador Fwens were definitely not tall enough to ride the ride! Whooooa! Maybe it was a good thing that we didn’t try to ride it again. 😅🐧🎢
Can you believe it?! We designed shoes! Never thought that would happen!
New Product Release! The Executive Penguin has been hard at work making sooo many products with the Galapagos Penguin graphic! Everything from backpacks to shoes to bath towels and kids shirts! What do you think?!
I’m most impressed by the shoes. Shooooes! There so cute even though they’re all white! I think I might need me a pair or two.
Here at Surrounded By Penguins we encourage people to take the opportunity to be part of the product creation process. We want to make products that you will love and cherish. So when aq31.12 on Instagram took the time to message us to suggest that we place the new Galapagos penguin design on a shirt that was a different style, how could we not oblige?
Now we wanted to place the design exactly where the original is placed. As of last night, this cannot be done unless we place it on a shirt that allows for wrap around printing. This drove up the cost of the shirt by over $20usd and put the shirt in the new materials category instead of using recycled materials. So we reached out the aq13.12 again and asked for input about the shirt you see featured here. To quote aq13.12 that hearted the image… “I think the middle looks great”. Approved! Awesome.
We just got back from Ecuador and it was amazing! We’re super excited to review and create new products from so many of the birbs we got to photograph, but first I needed to do some justice with the designs I’ve created from adventures we had before we created Surrounded By Penguins.
We wanted to make products that were affordable for as many people as possible. We want everyone to feel as if they are helping the birbs. So we made a postcard featuring once again our favorite Fiordland Crested Penguin couple! Problem is, shipping cost more than the post card itself! So it is more practical to add postcards (and stickers) as a bonus addition to your order. If you only want to purchase postcards I suggest buying a few. For every postcard added to orders, it brings totals up to only 5 cents per a postcard to ship (to the US). This makes getting a postcard more worth your while. When I order these, I’m going to buy several and send some out to a few lucky friends. When’s the last time you received a postcard?
Next up is our notebook! I’ve been needing a sketchbook journal! I love to practice my penguin cartoon art drawing during lunch but my current journal has been full for so long that I’ve been needing a new one. I think the couple on the cover of this notebook, along with a penguin asking me what’s on my mind can get me to write and draw without inhibition. The dotted pages will be new to me, but I’ve been wanting an excuse to try dotted pages to see if they work better for me. I don’t like lines getting in the way of drawings but I did want somewhat of a guide to help with drawing alignment and keeping sentences in appropriate rows.
Have you ever heard of sand penguins? Not African penguins or other penguin species that you can find waddling on beaches and other sandy areas, but actual magical sand penguins. These penguins are so rare that only a few picture of them have been seen on the internet. From the first time we found out about them, we became obsessed with a need to meet them.
Well we were in luck! Our recent visit to Perris Lake lead us to a wonderful beach spot where Sand Penguins magically appeared! Once we heard of the special appearance the race was on to meet them before they disappeared into their mysterious hidden nesting grounds in the sea.
No time to pack neatly! Come on everyone lets go! The trek was harder than we thought it would be… Having no time to figure out how to best roll the wagon, we dragged across the beach until we saw some Seagulls.Excuse me, Seagulls. Can you tell us where we might find the sand penguins? Squawk! Set up here, yeah set up here, they’ll come to you! Squawk! Yeah! They will come to you. Zippy: What do you think, Sippy? Should we set up here? Sippy: I am not so sure, Zippy. There’s something about those Seagulls that I can’t quite put my beak on. But I suppose this is just as good as any other place here, so lets set up.Once set up, everyone agreed that the location was beautiful. Beautiful but no sand penguins in sight.*Just then… A flock of Seagulls came into view* Huh. What’s this? What are these Seagulls up to?Whoa! What a flurry! I can barely tell what is going on!As the Seagulls passed, only one remained… “Squawk! Hello there penguins and friends! March along there towards the water where all the other Seagulls fluttered. There among the sand and sea, you will find what you seek.” And so a small party of brave penguins set out to the shoreline. They said bye to Seagull as they made a u turn over the sand penguins and back towards the other seagulls. Bye Seagull!With not more than a wiggle and a waddle. They saw that a few of the sand friends and small penguins were already at the shore line. Huh, how did that happen? And wait… Is that what we think it is?It is! And a baby sand penguin at that! And look there are others! And the small penguins are even guarding. Sippy: “Hello family! And hello new to us sand family!” Look at all them! With the magical sand penguins arriving and the visiting penguins making their way, the seagull took their leave. “Thank you, Seagull! I hope we see you again soon!” said the visiting penguins. “No problem. I am sure we will meet again. Take care!” the Seagull respondedWow! It seems like we’re late to the party! We better hurry!Mippy: Wait a minute, I forgot something! What’d you forget, Mippy? Mippy: “A kite! To fly so that we can signal thank you to all the other seagulls.”Fantastic, Mippy! That’s a great idea! Finally, we made it! Time to have the a sand party of royal proportions!Some friends even came on a sand raft!All the friends learned so much about each other. The sand penguins are royalty made of magic. They help to protect all beaches, even when they don’t form into penguins. They love when people play in the sand with them, but they don’t like when people liter on them because it’s dangerous and disrespectful. The sun was starting to set. It was time to get going. Jack wanted to stay with the sand penguins. Not ready to leave the beach, Jack lagged behind.Come on, Jack! They all encouraged Jack to come back. Jack: But I don’t want to leave! What if we never see the sand penguin family again?
Sand Penguins: Remember Jack, and everyone, we are everywhere a beach is, be it by a lake, sea, or ocean. We are all around and sometimes even come home in your shoes. Don’t forget to keep the beaches and sand clean, when everything is pristine that’s when we sometimes visit. We saw you picking up liter and that’s why we showed, so keep up the good work. Keep on having fun and in sure, some day soon we’ll sea each other again! Get it? Sea. Jack sighed… Okee. I guess I’ll go then and keep helping to clean the beach in hopes that we’ll see you next time!
They all said their farewells and thank you’s until it was almost too dark to sea each other… Get it? Sea. Until next time sands penguins, until next time…. Oh! And seagulls too!
