I finally got around to visiting Blackbrook yesterday for the first time, and was very impressed. The sunny weather probably helped as there is not a great deal of cover. Overall I think this is a spacious first-class facility and the majority of exhibits would not be out of place in any of our more famous zoos.
The feel of the place is not unlike the exotic section of Martin Mere. Despite being previously known as World of Birds, and having a large number of bird species, the emphasis is definitely on waterfowl/cranes/pheasants. There are very few passerines, no parrots apart from cockatiels, and few birds of prey. I don’t mean that as a criticism though. It’s now a zoological park although there are not many mammals and some of the general public might be disappointed if they are expecting ABC animals.
The new penguin enclosure looks great, as good as Chester’s, and will be even better when there are a few more penguins in it. Plenty of other building work going on. With an annual attendance of only 20 000 it’s hard to see where the money is coming from.
I agree with other posters about the signage. My knowledge of birds is not that brilliant, but I do enjoy trying to work out which brown duck is which from the signs. Unfortunately many of the mixed aviaries and pens have signs identifying only a minority of the occupants. In particular, with all those species of pelican it would be helpful to have a poster showing how to tell them apart. The keepers were happy to answer my questions though. The famous open-bills can only be viewed from a corner of their pen and there is no sign up for them, and you could easily miss them if you didn’t know they were there.
The lemur enclosures are a bit “Twycrossy” and not up to the standard of the rest of the place. There is a new baby white-fronted lemur. RRH not arrived yet.
Overall I think this is a great place and I will definitely be paying a return visit before too long.
