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Like a Rhinestone Cowboy: FunkyGibbon in Europe

Discussion in 'Europe - General' started by FunkyGibbon, 30 Mar 2017.

  1. Philipine eagle

    Philipine eagle Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Brilliant thought, I feel very similar. Every good zoo visit starts with a morning coffee and a good zoo map on the terrace of the restaurant.
     
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  2. Batto

    Batto Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Perfect summary of every contemporary "Erlebniszoo" / Event zoo concept.
     
  3. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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    Germany Part 8 - I've been a Walsrode for many a year

    Sock of the day: Wolf

    Brum's Beer Briefing: Duckstein Rotblondes Original
    Full of flavour, but it's a yeasty one rather than a hoppy one. Definitely a beer with character, just not really for me. Almost sour.

    Walsrode is fairly easily reached from Hannover, and because it doesn't open 'til the relatively late hour of ten o'clock it isn't a particularly early start either. The forecast for my visit had been pretty bad, in fact I had been considering heading straight to Hamburg, and then doubling back on a dryer day, but that turned out to add just a little too much train time, so I buttoned up and went for it. Actually it was a perfectly fine day, so I needn't have worried.

    Walsrode Birdpark, July 26th


    For some zoos previously unvisited I'm already at least familiar with the layout, having perused a map beforehand. For Walsrode, for whatever reason, this wasn't the case, and so I studied the map just inside the entrance carefully. Where would the treasures be? The Paradies-Halle looked promising, as did the Regenwaldhalle. You'd also be a fool to bet against the Fasanerie, or indeed the Kolibri-House, with its accompanying picture of a hummingbird. In the end though, my feet found themselves following the main path to a series of unidentified aviaries, which turned out to be loosely for Eurasian birds. Certainly there were some interesting things here, and a lot that was new to me, but this was only the prestarter, the amuse-bouche if you will.

    Before I talk about the collection in more general terms I should note that at opening time there was quite a queue to get in, and that I thought the park was well attended throughout the day. Good news for us all!

    I have a bit of a confession to make: I don't really 'get' parrots. I always try, and it's not as if I see no value in them, but put me in front of a large selection and my eyes start to glaze over. As you can imagine, Walsrode has a large selection. I cast my eye over it, but for more details you'll really have to see someone else's writing. Tucked in amongst the parrot aviaries is a row of 'off-show' enclosures to illustrate the work the park does behind the scenes. The problem with these is that from them can be seen the actual off-show areas, and the difference is quite stark, in terms of planting and so on. A good idea, but essentially not the real thing.

    Another of the few areas where Walsrode doesn't really excel collection-wise is birds of prey. The aviaries are actually large, some of the best I've seen really, but the variety, on-show at least, isn't what you might expect from somewhere with Walsrode's reputation. In the bird show there IS a lot more to see, so perhaps it's behind the scenes.

    There's not a lot of point lingering on the bits of Walsrode that I felt were merely ordinary. There's so much wonderful stuff to talk about. Suffice to say that there isn't really anything 'bad' here.

    So where to start on the good stuff? How about with the hummingbird house? Walsrode exhibits three species: Green-tailed Trainbearer, Sparkling Violet-ear and Amazilia. I've only seen hummingbirds once before, in the Blackburn Pavilion at London, so this was a real treat. They're lots of artificial nests in some of the enclosures, so I wonder if they're breeding them. Very cool anyway.

    The rainforest hall is right next to the hummingbird house. It's a steamy, grimy, mossy affair. Exactly what a tropical house should be like! It reminds me a lot of the Tropical Realm at Chester, although a little smaller perhaps. The free flying birds are signed as numerous, but I had trouble spotting anything that wasn't a house sparrow or some kind of pigeon. Luckily there was nothing in there I desperately wanted to see. Along the path that winds through the house are lots of large aviaries for some real rarities. Wattled umbrella bird, Capuchinbird, Twelve wired bird-of-paradise and both species of Cock-of-the-rock can be found here. It was particularly interesting to compare the latter to each other. I was a bit disappointed to only see the one bird of paradise, a species I'd seen before. At this point in the day I'd already been through the misleadingly titled Paradise Hall, so I guess the rest of the collection had been moved off-show.

    At the end of the parrots section there is a building called the Lori Atrium. This does indeed contain lorikeets, but to get to them you pass quite a few aviaries of tanagers and other bits and bobs. The highlight of this house was the Chestnut-backed scimitar babbler, a genus (genera really) of birds I've never seen before, but often coveted when browsing my field guides. Unfortunately it was sharing an aviary with lots of Madagascar pigeons who were obviously dominant so it only skulked in the background. Great to see nonetheless.

    Everything I've so far described surrounds a huge lawn that is the heart of Walsrode. At one end of it is a grassy knoll that forms the stage for the bird show. The highlight of this is seeing an Andean condor in flight, albeit a very low flight. Other best bits were the Grey-backed trumpeter and Kagu, a species I hadn't expected to see outside an aviary. A dozen African crowned cranes in flight were also amazing, but overall perhaps my expectations for the display had been raised too high, as I felt it was good rather than great.

    One of the first buildings I entered was the Paradise Hall (Paradies-Halle). This is in two halves: a simple row with aviaries on both sides, and a walkthrough exhibit. The first aviary on the left contains a pair of Golden-headed quetzal, one of my key target species for the park. Absolutely gorgeous. The rest of the row is a complete smorgasbord of small avian delights, a cornucopia of feathered fauna. I lost count of the number of Spangled cotingas I saw, and there is a Pompadour there as well. A pair of pygmy falcons might just be the cutest adult animal I've ever seen. The Blue-winged pitta is also exquisite. I'm just writing from memory; I certainly don't have a species list for this building but there were also lots of tanagers, not the usual selection of pigeons and pheasants, and as a nice little addition: a Red and white crake. In the walkthrough several species on the board caught my eye; luckily the staff were in the act of putting down food and so all the unusual passerines literally paraded in front of me one after another. All except the paradise whydah...

    I left the building thinking that it was probably the best single 'named-exhibit-collection' I had ever seen. That was challenged a little later on.

    My first experience of the Fasanerie was a very brisk walk-past as I rushed from the Paradise Hall to the bird show. The Horned guan was perched on a branch right next to the wire. Did I stop for a picture? Did I heck! More on that in a minute. By the time I returned to the Fasanerie, a very long single row of aviaries with a nice row of cultured trees and trellised vines opposite them, I had seen most of the rest of the park. I worked my way along the row slowly, and then worked my way up and down it again several times. There is a lot to see. Again, I don't have a species list, but why don't we start with three species of coua? That's not a bad showing. Red-billed and Blue-billed Curassow? Sure, why not (with Crestless elsewhere in the park). Unfortunately the Horned guan had disappeared into the house, but Crested Guan (citation needed?) was a nice substitute. The Sickle-billed vanga, another rarity, was lurking at the back of the aviary, much like the scimitar-babbler, but I still saw it. There are several species of hornbill, including my favourite, Rufous, a model of which also adorns a bench in the park #selfie

    The real treasure of the Fasanerie, and in my opinion the whole park, is the Coral-billed ground cuckoo. Another species that wormed its way from a bird book into my brain; this one was a pleasant surprise because I didn't know Walsrode had it. It wasn't out on my first pass, but after that it was very showy the whole afternoon. Definitely my favourite from the zoo. The horned guan, incidentally, still in its house.

    One of my other target species for the day was dwarf cassowary. I saw one easily, but it was sat down and it wasn't until a second sweep of the park later on that I got a proper appreciation of the size of it. I think dwarf is something of a misnomer, although it is smaller than the other species it's not drastically so, and if the word Bennett's didn't give me wallaby flashbacks I'd favour that instead.

    Bear in mind that at this point, aided by its central location, I'm visiting the horned guan aviary every twenty minutes or so, but still no dice.

    I'm afraid, dear reader, that I've mislead you once again. Because, I imagine, they do printing runs of the English maps less often, the new bird of paradise aviaries weren't shown and so I chanced on them late in the day, and luckily saw all but the kings. Very nice indeed.

    No sign of the horned guan again.

    Having at this point in the day seen the whole collection, and indeed there is much I haven't written about, I started working through the list of things I hadn't seen the first time around, as well as just repeating the bits I'd particularly enjoyed. Which doesn't make for interesting writing.

    Instead, let's briefly consider the question: Walsrode or Jurong? Really, they're very different collections. Jurong has two huge aviaries that Walsrode can't match, and two more that are the equal of the paradise hall and the jungle hall. It also has a completely stonking hornbill collection. And like forty other things. On the other hand, Walsrode has the hummingbirds, and to me it felt like it had more rarities overall. And like thirty nine other things. When you actually write it down it looks like Jurong should be the easy winner, but my heart is drawn to Walsrode. I just had a better day there. Other opinions are available.

    I've been dwelling on the horned guan because I want to take you with me when I visit the aviary one last time before my bus leaves in 15 minutes and there, miraculously, it was, perched on a branch with that weird red super-zit wobbling ever so slightly. Don't forget I had seen it earlier, this was all about avoiding photography-based regret. The rush of happiness and relief and gratitude was tremendous, and it was the perfect way to end the day.

    I think Walsrode's reputation speaks for itself, and all I really need to say is it is deserved. If you are ever nearby you were already going to visit anyway.
     
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  4. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I am also a fan of a hoppy lager, preferably without too much fizz. I appreciate the reviews more now knowing we enjoy the same beers! :)
     
  5. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    You had more luck with the Horned Guan than I did - despite several revisits over the course of two days the best I got was a brief glimpse of one flying indoors :p

    For the sake of interest, when I get the chance I will root out my complete list of what was on-display in the Fasanerie when I visited in June 2016 - may be interesting to learn what they have lost or gained since then. Given the fact you have not mentioned the Courol at all, I fear that may be a loss?
     
  6. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    My previous post was written after the beer review. I now want to say that that was the best zoo review I've ever read on ZooChat! It had suspense, surprises and brutal honesty. The pun wasn't the best though... :D :p
     
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  7. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I'm impressed he can still write the reviews after all the drinking! :p
     
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  8. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    If Brum can manage, I am sure FunkyGibbon can :p
     
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  9. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    Brum doesn't write reviews! Now we know why. :p
     
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  10. Vision

    Vision Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I, for one, loved the pun :p

    Very nice review of a very nice park. I'm envious of you for seeing the coral-billed ground cuckoos, those were off-show on my visit. I wonder how often they actually do switch things up!

    Regarding the comparison between walsrode and jurong: I've had the pleasure to have visited Jurong throughout 2006-2009 and once in 2016, and have to say the difference is a very great one. Unfortunately I've only visited walsrode earlier this year, so my comparison won't at all be fair, but I believe I preferred the 2006-2009 jurong over the 2017 walsrode, but preferred the 2017 walsrode over the 2016 jurong.
    The removal of the monorail, and the much less intricate and geographically correct waterfall aviary inventory have rather drastically changed my view on jurong - though it's still one of my favorite zoos!
     
  11. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    A pint a day is not too bad @Chlidonias but you have a different idea of relaxation than most of us,,, :p

    And Dave I do not spend all of my life drunk, that was one weekend! :D
     
  12. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I do NOT need an intervention! :p

    EDIT -

    The Devils Juice!

    Well maybe I may need help... :p
     
    Last edited: 30 Jul 2017
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  13. ShonenJake13

    ShonenJake13 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Fantastic review!!! This has reaffirmed Walsrode's place in my top 5 want to visit German zoos! Keep them coming FG :D
     
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  14. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I've said this at least once before on the forum (recently, which is how I remember it is at least once) - Walsrode interests me enough that I would make a trip specifically to see that one collection. I can't really think of any other zoo where I could legitimately say that. I would add zoo visits into an existing trip, or make a trip composed of various zoos, but Walsrode by itself would be enough to be the sole reason for a trip.

    My only real concern over it would be that so much of the collection is (at least from how I interpret what I read on Zoochat) on some sort of off-show/on-show rotation, with species regularly appearing and disappearing from display aviaries. I would feel like no matter how great the on-show collection was, I'd be missing out on all the great species not on display.
     
  15. Batto

    Batto Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    @Chlidonias: then why not contact the staff beforehand (or someone who is chummy with the curators) to get a Plzeň-style behind the scenes tour?
     
  16. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    that's my plan!
     
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  17. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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    Unsigned and unseen, but that may just mean they were taken off show?

    The list would be interesting :)

    I'm also interested if people agree that the Fasanerie is the best part of the zoo, which is what had I meant to write after having given the Paradies-Halle so much praise.
     
  18. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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    Thanks. I'm quite sure that's not true but I won't make the obvious joke about you being drunk when you wrote it ;)
     
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  19. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    the obvious joke is the best one, because then everyone gets it. And then everyone knows how clever you are! It's Science!
     
  20. Batto

    Batto Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I hope you dedicated a few minutes during your visit to another highlight of Vogelpark Walsrode: its gift shop. ;)