A very enjoyable update, thank you. A few additions and answers:
Meet the Monkeys has been a dead end for some time now (at a guess I would say 2018-19, but not sure exactly), and members who follow these London news threads closely will know that I have ranted about how needless and frustrating this is time and time again! Initially, it was made a dead end due to a technical issue of some description that forced the closure of the exit near Blackburn - it has been rumoured that said issue was flooding due to drainage issues, which would make sense given that the pathway leading to the exit is on much lower ground than the rest of the walkthrough. This was only meant be temporary but, unfortunately for us, the staff discovered it made the walkthrough easier to manage, so they never undid it. It wouldn't be as bad if the pathway you mention besides Tiny Giants that leads to Blackburn was open, but regrettably, it hasn't been since LotL opened - not sure why...
That smaller aviaries on either end of the main walkthrough in Blackburn are, if I am not mistaken, intended for two functions: the rearing of chicks that are too small to be left unsupervised in the walkthrough, and breeding pairs. So far, laughingthrushes and Ornate Lories have been kept in there. You could have seen the latter, but that you mention its partner was outside eliminates this possibility because the other Ornates are not kept in the main walkthrough, rather one of the little aviaries in the entrance hall. That would make Goldie's Lorikeet the more likely candidate, but I can't imagine why they would need to be separated. Perhaps the cage was in fact open, and the bird merely wondered inside by choice - I have never seen the lories do this, but the sunbirds have done so countless times when the doors are left opened.
That is amazing news about the Darwin's Frogs! Wonder where they would have come from - presumably somewhere in Europe must keep them privately.
The Three-banded Armadillo has been kept in Rainforest Life for nearly two years, and I have never seen it once - a very elusive species. The zoo also keeps Big Hairy Armadillos, but they are offshow, behind a bamboo screen near the entrance to the Cassons. A real shame that it is now all but impossible to see armadillos at London - they were one of my childhood favourites.
And while we're on the subject of the Clore, I wonder what will happen to the gentle lemurs who have recently moved into the former spider monkey enclosure, given that the plan is supposedly to bring the squirrel monkeys into there. Let's hope they remain at the zoo, a really delightful, albeit difficult to spot animal.
