Today - an enjoyed day at Birdland.
I recall one joy of my earlier visits to Birdland was that of being so infused into various bird encyclopaedias already, so the variety of different birds; some unusual and those more familiar was always delightful. And Birdland continues to deliver on that - and seeing such birds as go-away birds, rollers and ground hornbills - those who I don't see every day, is always pleasurable. But there were some things of note...
I found it curious that the Desert House had imagery of bee-eaters on the outside... but inside no such birds were found. The hoopoe are indeed no more - but there are still several quelea inside.
The Dinosaur attraction has seen better days. One dinosaur's tail had fallen off [next to the rest of the dinosaur], the forest is not as thick as it used to be, removing quite a bit of the surprise element as now upcoming dinosaurs are easier to see from a distance, and in general many of the dinosaurs are dirty. And in a sense, with some of the uglier models the thicker forest worked as a facade so to hide their ugly, which is not so much anymore. And as a cherry on top there are now houses being built adjacent the Marshmouth Reserve. I'm sure the tenants will have great joy watching static dinosaurs from the comfort of their home... but as for birdwatching its value is not so much anymore.
Signage is here, and signage is there. You can be fairly sure that what's signed is inside the enclosure - but this isn't always the case. Several cases the same sort of bird was in different enclosures unsigned - coming to mind particularly hamerkop and a sort of lapwing. Some signs I'm not sure whether the bird is still there - that aviary could very well have laughingthrush still inside but no sign of the tragopan... the most agregious example - the sign reads 'African Spurred Tortoise'... but the exhibit only has a few domestic ducks! I think in some cases ZTL is out-of-date with listings as isn't uncommon - the violaceous turaco seems to have been replaced with a white-cheeked to name one.
The indoor Discovery Zone has been replaced by a new cafe - and Flamingo Point, the previous restaurant which is adjacent to it, now operates as a toilet block. Which I find less than intuitive - surely it'd be preferable to have a toilet block inside the same building as the restaurant? There is a book shelf with some children's books in the back but not as much to see or do for children. There is another building elsewhere which serves part of the function of the original Discovery - providing incubation tanks of domestic birds and an axolotl tank [the axolotl was not seen], but still not quite as much as what was before.
There are still two parrots on sticks - the hybrid macaw close to the entrance and the blue-and-yellow between the restaurant and toilet. I do believe these are 'grandfather's cases' as they have built new parrot aviaries - so their departure, whenever it happens, I think will give much good space. Particularly the blue-and-yellow - plenty of space but of course the stick parrot doesn't use much of it.
Overall nothing truly worrying - except maybe for the waterlogged emu pen - but it was a day much enjoyed!
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