I visited Planckendael yesterday and here are some updates.
I will first give the general park updates, then the construction updates.
The orangutan project construction is continuing very actively. They were pouring concrete on the restaurant side, a new road is being constructed and the first new trees and bamboo have been planted.
I took photos both a ground level and from the tree-top walk structure this time.
Construction is also continuing in the Australian area. It is difficult to see what is exactly being done, but sadly it seems to be they are constructing some type of new playground structure above/in the pond, between the kangaroo exhibit and the cassowary exhibits. I also saw a wooden pole structure that I have no idea of what it will be. Unfortunately the pictures I got of these renovations are not very good and do not say a lot.
With regards to the new antelope house there seems to be little visible progress lately. I did however notice that the trench plates in the former wildebeest and oryx paddock had been removed and that some more old fences seem to have been removed. I also saw some large ducts, of the type possibly used for ventilation or heating, near the cheetah exhibits, so possibly interior construction is still ongoing.
I will first give the general park updates, then the construction updates.
- One of the big beech trees between the entrance and the Indian rhinoceros exhibit, near the donut and coffee shack, was felled by the recent storms Eunice and Franklin, with the tree breaking off close to the ground. The trunk was still in place, the canopy had already been removed. I saw some branches in the wapiti and elephant exhibits that could be from this tree.
- One of the koi in the pond next to the playground and the restaurant was sadly floating around dead, we did notify a staff member of this.
- In terms of wildlife the number of European robins in the park was notable. Besides robins I also saw chaffinches, common wood pigeons, a common moorhen, great tits and a flight of Eurasian jackdaws above the park. I also saw and heard an Indian ring-necked parakeet again, I think some individuals might be trying to establish themselves or possibly nest in the forested zone near the wapiti and bison exhibits.
- The two Northern shovelers in the European aviary I mentioned last year now appear to be two drakes.
- The recent storms appear to also have damaged the African waterfront aviary. One of the aviary's poles, next to the entrance hut, stood at a very weird angle and had been tied to a tree on the other side of the service road with a lashing strap. The netting on the front side of the aviary also seemed abnormally loose. All birds seemed to have been removed from the aviary, possibly for repairs. As I really like this aviary I hope it will be repaired, inhabited and open the public again soon. Visitors are currently being re-routed via the cobblestone service road next to the aviary, a piece of the fencing just past the Garamba ranger post theming was temporarily put aside for that purpose.
- Some of the birds from the African waterfront aviary seem to have been (hopefully temporarily) rehomed to other aviaries. The purple herons were in the spoonbill aviary next to the train wagon in the Asian area, several black-crowned night herons were in the European aviary, several cattle egrets in the former macaw aviary and the white-faced whistling ducks in the South American aviary. I did not see the other birds (i.e. the African spoonbills) and presumably those are currently behind the scenes.
- One of the Kordofan giraffes was separated from the four others in the separation paddock.
- I saw the bird in the former macaw aviary that I mentioned last time again and I was able to make a (albeit not very good) photo this time. I can now confirm my ID of giant wood rail (Aramides ypecaha). That animal is now living with some cattle egrets.
- The callitrichid monkeys are temporarily off-show. Their indoor exhibits had been emptied, it seems they are being cleaned and refurbished.
The orangutan project construction is continuing very actively. They were pouring concrete on the restaurant side, a new road is being constructed and the first new trees and bamboo have been planted.
I took photos both a ground level and from the tree-top walk structure this time.
Construction is also continuing in the Australian area. It is difficult to see what is exactly being done, but sadly it seems to be they are constructing some type of new playground structure above/in the pond, between the kangaroo exhibit and the cassowary exhibits. I also saw a wooden pole structure that I have no idea of what it will be. Unfortunately the pictures I got of these renovations are not very good and do not say a lot.
With regards to the new antelope house there seems to be little visible progress lately. I did however notice that the trench plates in the former wildebeest and oryx paddock had been removed and that some more old fences seem to have been removed. I also saw some large ducts, of the type possibly used for ventilation or heating, near the cheetah exhibits, so possibly interior construction is still ongoing.
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