Visited Birdland Park & Gardens on the 27/02/2012 after a long journey involving taking a Taxi 2 Trains and a coach trip cost was not that bad all in all it cost me £40 which in today’s money isn’t bad at all. On arrival I was greeted by a very friendly member of staff at the entrance point who was very informative about what was going on around the collection and the small reserve at the rear of the Park. Now down to it this is a collection of rare, common and natural species some of the enclosures looked like they had been refurbished or built in the last couple of years, some looked a little tired but overall it was a very pleasing sight to the eye. The collection itself was a little pleasing to the eye the collection had been well presented and the species had been placed together rather well so as to keep you interested in every enclosure which these days is hard to come by in most collections. The Desert Exhibit was a little surprising as this was not a walk through (unfortunately no walk through’s anywhere in this collection) but yet the way the exhibit had been set out there was no problem seeing all the areas and species on display. The King Penguins (what a size they are) these are the first I had seen and having them on show with Humboldt’s Penguins gives you a real perspective as to the size of the Kings It’s a pity no more collections have these wonderful birds as they would make a very attractive addition to most collections. The enclosure itself was a very good size for the birds within it and it was very pleasing to see a display were you could actually get really close to the birds (mind you that said could be a problem with small children) didn’t like the fact that the ground all around the pool was of solid concrete and rocks would like to have seen some other material used say a bit of sand or chippings just to break it up a little. Next came a row of enclosures that in I didn’t really want to look at as they reminded me of the bad old days of small and tight but that said they were great when you actually got there very well used to suit the species within them, they were very well stocked and the way the species displayed themselves you could tell the species were very happy with the conditions they were being kept in (well done to the staff). I won’t go round enclosure by enclosure but would like to point out a few, the 2 pools they have the Flamingos in are of great size and give the birds a different challenge one end calm and shallow the end a little fast running and deeper (Caribbean& Chilean in one and Greater in the other). A little surprised that there were not more Birds of prey in the collection but you can’t have everything. The Hornbills they have are greatly exhibited and I must admit the more I see the Hornbills the more I seen to be getting attracted to them, the one I like the best was the Northern Ground Hornbill what a size and what a beautiful bird (if only I could get an aviary big enough at home). Next the nature walk through (reserve) at the rear of the collection this is still a work in progress but this is coming on great, the area consists of a natural coppice area a river following round the edge a small clearing a Marsh area and a reed edged pool. They have a Hide overlooks the River Windrush and as some feeders just in front for easy viewing of the local wildlife, they are also constructing a mini mammals area this will consist of an area covered in wild grass and old wood. Saw my first Kingfisher while in the hide perched about 30ft away for just a few seconds but did manage to get a photograph will put in gallery later other species seen (wild) while walking around included - Rook, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Black Headed Gull, Jackdaw, Gold Finch, Feral Pigeon, Robin, Grey Wagtail, Mallard, Kingfisher, Dunnock, Long Tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blackbird, Moorhen. Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Lesser Redpoll & House Sparrow Overall View – I would return here with no problems about anything as I found this to be a very interesting and educational place not just for me but for children as well. The appearance of the place was tidy and attractive the staff very cheerful and informative the price very reasonable (£7.50 + £1.95 for guide book) unfortunately the café was closed but you were informed about his before you paid any money over, all other amenities were open and clean and tidy. All produce once on the park was very reasonably priced toilets were very clean and tidy. Looking forward to the future of this place as the new owners take over shortly and by all accounts will be increasing the size of the collection quite considerably. Any question I will try to answer. Overall score 9 out of 10
thanks for that Adrian. I like to read personal reviews like this, and I do think (perhaps not accurately) that there aren't many done for UK collections. Most seem to just have threads on "this lion had some babies, this lemur moved to another zoo, etc". I understand that completely, but for an outsider like me it's nice to actually be able to get a good overall feel for a place with a post like your one above (and Birdland is a place I've always had an interest in from back since the Len Hill days when it was at the old site).
What was there in the way of Parrots please Adrian? Also, is the Himalayan Snowcock still in the collection? I visited Birdland in 1999 and I'd like to go again. I was staying in Cheltenham and travelled by bus. What I did find odd was the very rigid opening regime - my visit was on Wednesday 31st March and the opening hours were 10 until 4 (I was there all day), but the following day being 1st April it was to be 10 until 6. The clocks had gone forward the previous Saturday night and it was during school holidays as 2nd April was Good Friday so I thought it should have been 10 until 6 from Sunday 28th. I had over an hour to wait for my bus and I sat outside Birdland writing my notes of the visit. Quite a few people walked up to the entrance and turned away disappointed. Are the opening hours still the same?
Will be posting a complete list of species on show shortly and yes they are still strict on opening times
Well they didn't have any Himalayan Snowcocks when I visited last year,in fact I cannot remember seeing any for a very longtime at Birdland.
Oh. Well it is nearly 13 years since my visit. I'm just looking at the species list I made, so it will be interesting to compare it with Adrian's.
No Snowcock, probably went not long after you last visit. In terms of parrots we have pairs of Scarlet, Red Fronted & Military Macaws, Moluccans, Golden Vomited & Splendid Parakeet. Have single Wagler Vomited, Timneh, White Cockatoo & Blue and Gold Macaw plus a couple of Hybrid Macaws, one if which is free flight and sometimes cones in at penguin feeding
oh good, I thought I was going mad -- or rather I thought that English people were mad and were calling conures "golden vomited parakeets"!! Although I must admit it does have a certain ring to it
This is a list of speces I did manage to see while on my visit to the Park this week . AFRICAN SPOONBILL AVOCET AXOLOTI AZURE WINGED MAGPIE BARE FACED CURASSOW BARTLETT’S BLEEDING HEART PIGEON BLACK HEADED GULL BLACK NECKED SWAN BLACK THROATED LAUGHING THRUSH BLACKSMITHS PLOVER BLUE & GOLD MACAW BLUE CRANE OR STANLEY BLUE THROATED CARMINE BEE EATER BLUE WINGED MINLA BRONZEWING PIGEON BURROWING OWL CANARY CARIBBEAN FLAMINGO CHILEAN FLAMINGO CHINESE PAINTED QUAIL COMMON REDSHANK CORN SNAKE COSOROBA SWAN CRESTED PIGEON CROWNED CRANE CROWNED PLOVER DEMOISELLE CRANE DESERT FINCH DIAMOND DOVE EMERALD DOVE EMERALD STARLING EUROPEAN EAGLE OWL FERAL PIGEON FROG FULVOUS WHISTLING DOVE GOLD FINCH GOLDEN CONURE GREATER FLAMINGO GREATER RHEA GREEN IMPERIAL PIGEON GREY PEACOCK PHEASANT HAMERKOP HOUSE MOUSE HUMBOLDT’S PENGUIN HYBRID GOOSE JAVA SPARROW KING PENGUIN KINGFISHER KOOKABURRA LESSER REDPOLL MADAGASCAN TEAL MALLARD MARABOU STORK MASKED LAPWING MILITARY MACAW MOLUCCAN COCKATOO MOORHEN MYNAH BIRD NORTHERN GROUNDED HORNBILL NORTHERN HELMETED CURASSOW OCCIPITAL BLUE PIE PALAWAN PEACOCK PHEASANT PIED IMPERIAL PIGEON PINK BACKED PELICAN PUNA IBIS RAINBOW LORIKEET RED BILLED STARLING RED CRESTED CARDINAL RED FRONTED MACAW RED TURTLE DOVE RED WING LAUGHING THRUSH RED WINGED STARLING ROSS’S SNOW GOOSE ROUL, ROUL SACRED IBIS SCARLET MACAW SCHALOW’S TURACO SIAMESE FIREBACK PHEASANT SNOWY OWL SOUTHERN GROUNDED HORNBILL SOUTHERN LAPWING SPECTACLED OWL SPLENDID PARAKEET STANDING DAY GECKO STONE CURLEW STRAITED CARACARA SULAWESI DOVE TARICTIC HORNBILL TAWNY FROGMOUTH TEMMNICKS TRAGOPAN TRUMPETER HORNBILL TURTLE DOVE VIOLACEOUS TOURACO VULTURINE GUINEAFOWL WAGLER’S CONURE WALDRAPP WHITE BELLIED GO AWAY BIRD WHITE FACED SCOPS OWL WHITE FACED WHISTLING DUCK WHITE NAPED CRANE WHITE STORK WHITE THROATED LAUGHING THRUSH YELLOW SHOULDERED AMAZON ZEBRA FINCH Sorry about it being in capitals but just copied and paste to save time. EDIT - They have probally got other species but maybe I just didn't see them or they were off show as this is still early in the year.
Thank-you. I'm pleased the vomited bit has been covered before I switched on this evening - I was wondering what to say about it (before I go to attend to my own Green-cheeked Vomiteds). I was wondering if you still had hybrid Macaws.
Think Adrians list is pretty complete. We have Great Grey Owl, Grey Treepie and Bearded Barber off show, as well as a trio of double wattled cassowary
@Ajkwba they were cleaning the Double Wattled Cassowary enclosure when I visited so didn't see them and forgot to put on my list thanks for the update and will now put on species list
Taken from Facebook - We have 6 King Penguins arriving from @EdinburghZoo tomorrow including Sir Nils Olav. They will be in quarantine for at least a fortnight Do they have enough room for them or are they moving some of there own on to another collection
It's only a temporary arrangement whilst Edinburgh sort out the leaky Pool... The Scottish birds will go back later in the year, No changes to the Birdland group as far as I'm aware
