I agree. It's the most naturalistic enclosure and it's so good watching them ascend & descend those rocks. It would cost very little to add some aviaries at the entrance for Pheasant perhaps and a hard stand with stable for the Takin. It will be expensive to add to the fencing, especially higher up.
Left hands and right hands? A bit like suddenly giving Bruce publicity on social media just when he's gone offshow until the nocturnal house reopens!
I visited yesterday, for the first time since January 2017, disappointed to find Bruce off show, but the zoo otherwise was lovely. Highlights included a juvenile Orang trying to chip bits off a window sill with a broom head he must have purloined, well coloured Scarlet Ibis colony including two juveniles, Dalmatian Pelican on a nest, three Gibbon species, Geeen Peafowl in the Brookside, nice group of six Giraffes. Not sure what's happening in the Cottage Aviary, only saw one Ruff, two Mexican Stoltd (ex Newquay) and a single Socorro Dove. Must have been other stuff in there? No sign of Grey Gulls. Black-necked Weaver(s?), and three Plumheads Oarrakeets looking good in Reptile Tropics, Komodo Dragon avidly digging in a corner of her enclosure. New to me were Thao Whipping Frogs, with tadpoles, and Blue Tree Monitors.
Glad you had a good time! The Orang was probably Tatty - she has an insatiable thirst for new ways of having fun! There are normally about a dozen Ruffs in the Cottage Aviary along with the Stilts and the Dove. Nothing else has been added since it was revamped. The Grey Gulls are/were in the ABC - I can't keep up with the whereabouts of the birds who seem to move about a lot.
The Kiwi is not moving to the nocturnal house with Bruce the Echidna, and they have no plans to add evening experiences with the Kiwi as yet. The zoo is ramping up its Top Trumps trail campaign before Easter. My daughter trialled it at Gibbon Club and she loved it. It is educational & fun and isn't App/phone based which is great.
Which makes moving him out of an exhibit where he was active and readily-visible - one which had been refurbished quite recently, at that, even more pointless......
Yet another disappointment. I thought they were going to make something of being the sole UK holders of two species from 'down under'
Where does the Kiwi actually live ? Is it in the box in the Toucan exhibit ? I notice that the aviary next to it on the right, has the Kiwi signpost on it, does it actually have access to that outside bit ?
No, the Kiwi's not actually in the Toucan exhibit. A lot of people looking at the video assume he's in what is the Toucans' nest box but Kiwis are flightless. There is a little doorway at ground level into the aviary you mention - I believe that's where the den shown on the video is and that he can go outside at night.
Some things noticed this week: Most of the window of the Toucan exhibit mentioned above has been whitewashed over. You can just see that the nest box has gone. The fencing all around the Bongo field is being replaced. A trench is being dug out so the poles must be going a long way down. Some paths are being resurfaced so detours are in place. There was some more work going on in the new Lar gibbon house. The Red-crowned cranes have a nest and an egg on the Pileated gibbon island. The Marabou storks at the edge of Pelican Lake have pink and blue necks and are inflating their throat sacs and clattering their beaks. I guess they're in breeding mode, although a quick Google search didn't help me confirm this. The Grey Gulls, former residents of the Cottage Aviary, have moved to France. Greg, the goat with the wonky jaw in the Ranch, has died at the ripe old age age of 14.
Not a keeper in sight to ask, but I think I've just ID'd a Greater Roadrunner in the Toco Toucan house next to the Kiwi TV? Would like a confirmation.
Just looked and it seems as if Shorelands keep Roadrunners. If I'm correct, I wonder if they will move it/them to the desert house? Also noticed the aviary netting has been removed from the area that kept the ground hornbills and Argus pheasant adjoining the hornbill aviaries.
I tried to peer into the house this morning but, despite doing a bit of limbo dancing, couldn't see anything. Bruce: a sign on his old enclosure explains that he's now in the Nocturnal House and that he should be on view at Easter. Good luck to anyone attempting that
Small possibility some might be in private hands, but one private breeder has recently sent his stock abroad. They were offered to me first -- maybe I should have made the necessary effort.
I did see a bird in there today. Another visitor said it was a Greater Roadrunner. I snapped this image, for what it's worth. The bird is the blurred object at the top.
Some notes from today: • Snapping Turtles now in Lily pond, Gharial moved to Cuban croc area (1st pond on right), Salty in now ex Grarial area & Cuban in now ex Salty pond. • new monitor species in Tropics (see attached pic). • Tur area now has gates closed with no entry signage at all! • Greater Roadrunner are a pair and will 'probably' stay in current aviary.
