Lafone
Well-Known Member
Had a lovely day at Whipsnade today, weather was chilly but there was a decent amount of sun. Not too busy visitor wise and there was an exodus after about 3pm which made for a quiet last few hours until closing time.
The bird show was in full swing with three sessions in the day and a good variety of birds flying. The kookaburras in the former Saki monkey aviary are part of the display and are being trained to fly back to the enclosure after the show (which they did with a bit of encouragement). It was mentioned they were still spending a little time in the bird garden but the intention is they are in the aviary full time but going out for their regular flying sessions etc.
The African dogs were signed as off show.
The red crowned cranes were sitting on a new nest and signs for nesting were in place both on their enclosure and the wattled cranes, though the latter were wandering around together with no nest visible. Last time they signed this on the cranes we had a chick so hopefully bodes well.
The red crowned cranes swapped sitting duty while I was there after the keepers arrived with some food and there were at least two eggs on the nest which was awesome to see. Hopefully we might have another crane chick/s which would be an excellent result. The nest is visible this year too (you can see the male crane sitting on it beyond the sign in this not very lovely iphone picture).
It was also confirmed the young red crowned crane from last year is still at the zoo, but is off show.
The Barisinga were back in the enclosure with the Hog deer and the signage updated accordingly. Made more things for the cheetahs to look at so they were active, particularly at the end of the day.
Had good views of most of the other animals including the young rhino. Only six otters were out playing together and Carol (mother to all the pups) seemed to be absent the couple of times I passed by, perhaps she was elsewhere or was out of the enclosure temporarily.
The young meerkats were venturing out into the enclosure and were playing about They were fed not long before closing, along with the aardcarks..good time to see the smaller animals who live around the lion area.
The wild boar family were back in their enclosure near the Lynx after wintering in part of the Gaur enclosure and their signage was also back in place
The bird show was in full swing with three sessions in the day and a good variety of birds flying. The kookaburras in the former Saki monkey aviary are part of the display and are being trained to fly back to the enclosure after the show (which they did with a bit of encouragement). It was mentioned they were still spending a little time in the bird garden but the intention is they are in the aviary full time but going out for their regular flying sessions etc.
The African dogs were signed as off show.
The red crowned cranes were sitting on a new nest and signs for nesting were in place both on their enclosure and the wattled cranes, though the latter were wandering around together with no nest visible. Last time they signed this on the cranes we had a chick so hopefully bodes well.
The red crowned cranes swapped sitting duty while I was there after the keepers arrived with some food and there were at least two eggs on the nest which was awesome to see. Hopefully we might have another crane chick/s which would be an excellent result. The nest is visible this year too (you can see the male crane sitting on it beyond the sign in this not very lovely iphone picture).
It was also confirmed the young red crowned crane from last year is still at the zoo, but is off show.
The Barisinga were back in the enclosure with the Hog deer and the signage updated accordingly. Made more things for the cheetahs to look at so they were active, particularly at the end of the day.
Had good views of most of the other animals including the young rhino. Only six otters were out playing together and Carol (mother to all the pups) seemed to be absent the couple of times I passed by, perhaps she was elsewhere or was out of the enclosure temporarily.
The young meerkats were venturing out into the enclosure and were playing about They were fed not long before closing, along with the aardcarks..good time to see the smaller animals who live around the lion area.
The wild boar family were back in their enclosure near the Lynx after wintering in part of the Gaur enclosure and their signage was also back in place
