Blackbrook Zoo (Closed) Blackbrook 2013

Ah, that's a pain. Still no confirmation this is the case on either their website or facebook though.
 
I love Blackbrook, but it is such a stark place in terms of its climate. Getting enough visitors in there to pay the bills is a tough task.

The WWT sites all have wintering wildfowl (maybe not so much at Arundel) that help to draw in birders during the winter months. Blackbrook doesn't have that advantage.
 
Some slightly good news.... Statement from parks facebook

Quote: The Park will re- open for 1 week only during the half term week. During the week we will postpone any refurbishment work which has been taking place since the flooding. The tearoom facilities will not be open, however hot drinks, sandwiches and snacks will be available, or you can bring a picninc! Admission for the week will be reduced under the circumstances, so please come and support us - our birds will be very pleased to see some smiling faces! Admission per person:£6 adults, £5 concession, £4 children, £18 family ticket (2adults +2children) Under 3's free Public feeds running every day from 230pm - 330pm at pelicans, penguins and meerkats.
Please note - Experience days still not going ahead during this week due to health and safety reasons within the enclosures.
:cool:
 
I visited today for the first time since the end of April 2011. It was a nice day and the zoo was busy - partly because of a guinea pig show and a herptile conference. Admission prices are still reduced because they are still making good after the hard winter. For example, all the toilet facilities are portaloos (but the one I used was clean and pleasant). The old toilet block was wired off but looked OK from the outside.
I don't know how many of the changes since my last visit are due to the weather, some of them may have happened before the winter.
Anyway all the aviaries around the car park on the left hand side of the drive have been demolished, except one. The aviaries on the right hand side have been combined with the larger aviary behind them, holding American white ibis, night herons, mandarins and Pacific white-fronts. The Tropical House was closed and there were only a few birds in the outdoor aviary with the pool at the end of the house - I saw squacco herons, turnstones and a few small teal (probably Bernier's, but I didn't get a good look). The large aviary with the sloping roof behind the entrance building is also under repair.
The old secretary bird aviary and the one behind it (for sacred ibis?) have both gone - only the roof supports remain. Since my last visit a new aviary for snowy owls has been completed behind the tea room.
The only mammals I saw were meerkats, warty pigs, ring-tailed lemurs, Siberian chipmunks, rabbits and guinea pigs - although I overheard someone saying that they still have a sitatunga.
Many of the less common bird species have also gone (to Hillside I hope). But there are still 8 species of crane, greater flamingo, Darwin's rheas, milky eagle owls, Ypecaha wood rails, plus a few pheasants, Dalmatian, white and brown pelicans, lots of ibis (notably the noisy buff-necked and the strange hadada) and more waterfowl than you can shake a stick at. Not bad for £5 entry.
It's also worth noting that the website is a disaster area at the moment, but it is due for revamping soon.

Alan
 
They only have waterfowl and Lesser Flamingo at Hillside so if it was something other than,that thosetypes of bird they have gone!
 
zoogiraffe said:
They only have waterfowl and Lesser Flamingo at Hillside so if it was something other than,that thosetypes of bird they have gone!
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They may be off-show or transferred to other collections I suppose. The ones I didn't see were the secretary birds, some of the pelicans and pheasants, a few cranes, some guans, the Australian magpies, the open-billed storks and the southern bald ibis (although I note that TeaLovingDave put a photo in the Gallery from this February).

I should have added to my previous post that the tea room was doing good business, in case anyone who wanted to visit might be interested.

Alan
 
gentle lemur said:
They may be off-show or transferred to other collections I suppose. The ones I didn't see were the secretary birds, some of the pelicans and pheasants, a few cranes, some guans, the Australian magpies, the open-billed storks and the southern bald ibis (although I note that TeaLovingDave put a photo in the Gallery from this February).

I should have added to my previous post that the tea room was doing good business, in case anyone who wanted to visit might be interested.

Alan
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All the species you have listed have either gone to another collection,or died out,they are not off-show!
 
Particularly sad to see the secretaries, southern balds (where did they end up next?), guans and the various songbirds go. What actually brought this on? Cost-cutting or complete overhaul thru collection planning?

The bit about winter timings and the lack of ducks and birders coming to WWT's in wintertime to strike them off their lists also hit home. Maybe they could take that on board somehow for the future?

Blackbrook is a gem in the making yet! :)

They might have to look at how they can provide some more indoor areas, so the general public being the good weather brigade will also come thru the gates in less well ... seasoned weather.

What do you all think?
 
Considering the fact there was another bout of severe weather directly after my February visit, I would imagine some of the die-offs were caused by the effects of that.

That said, I'm very glad I got there in time to see the Southern Bald Ibis.
 
Nisha said:
Police are hunting vandals who broke into Blackbrook on the night of Wednesday 30th Jan and trashed the tea room causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage
Trail of destruction left after Blackbrook Zoo break-in | Stoke Sentinel
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That's truly bizarre (and wrong, of course) given the place is in the middle of nowhere and the tearoom in the middle of the place. One wonders what possessed individual(s) to wander in there after dark. That's a long wander (possibly fueled by intoxication I wonder?).
 
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