Birdland Park and Gardens

Birdland Park and Gardens is in Bourton-on-the-Water, which I have been to many times. It is my favourite place in the Cotswolds and I practically go there every year. Yet I've never been to Birdland to my memory. I say this as I was informed that I had been there when I was a toddler. I'm hardly going to remember that though. Still I'd park right next to Birdland and walked passed it many times and thought it looked like it wouldn't be that good. ...
...like me not been to Birdland (in her case it was never though!) and my boyfriend hadn't been there at all. After pottering about the village we decided to take a wander around it. The main reason being as my Gran can't walk far and is in a wheelchair and all the other attractions weren't suitable for wheelchairs.

Birdland is in the heart of the Cotswolds. Cheltenham, Oxford, Swindon and Stratford-upon-Avon are all within 30 miles. ... more

Birdland Park and Gardens is in Bourton-on-the-Water, which I have been to many times. It is my favourite place in the Cotswolds and I practically go there every year. Yet I've never been to Birdland to my memory. I say this as I was informed that I had been there when I was a toddler. I'm hardly going to remember that though. Still I'd park right next to Birdland and walked passed it many times and thought it looked like it wouldn't be that good.

That was until recently. I went to Bourton-on-the-Water with my boyfriend and Gran. My Gran had been with me on many occasions but like me not been to Birdland (in her case it was never though!) and my boyfriend hadn't been there at all. After pottering about the village we decided to take a wander around it. The main reason being as my Gran can't walk far and is in a wheelchair and all the other attractions weren't suitable for wheelchairs.

Birdland is in the heart of the Cotswolds. Cheltenham, Oxford, Swindon and Stratford-upon-Avon are all within 30 miles. Anyone who enjoys the countryside will appreciate the scenery on the way. Certainly from the direction I come from it is really beautiful. Unfortunately there is no car park for Birdland but there is a pay and display car park right next to it. There is also a larger car park situated in Bourton-on-the-Water so finding a space shouldn't be a problem. However, saying that Bourton-on-the-Water does get really busy. We went on a Bank Holiday and I was surprised, as it wasn't as busy as I've seen it in the past.

***The birds***

On entering the park the first thing you see is the Penguins. After being to the Cotswold Wildlife Park which isn't far from here I knew that the Penguins would be the highlight for me. These Penguins are a different breed though. Birdland boasts that they have the only King Penguins in England, Wales and Ireland. They do have them in Edinburgh though so they can be seen elsewhere in Britain. The King Penguins are the second largest Penguins (the largest being the Emperor Penguins). The other species they have are the Humboldt Penguin and the African Penguin.

What I liked about it here was that they had an area that children or those in pushchairs or wheelchairs could see them clearly. There was also a ramp to enable this. Further down the length of the pool they actually had perspex so you could see the Penguins swimming under water. Although I'd seen Penguins swimming in water before I hadn't seen them at this angle and again I was amazed at the speed they swam.

In an area sectioned off from the main area were three Penguins. Two were chicks and one was the parent of one of them. There was a sign to say when they were born. If my memory serves me rightly then one was born in May and the other in June.

Later in the day we came back as they feed the Penguins at 2.30pm. We never got there early so it was hard to see, as there were already crowds. So if anyone is considering going and would like to see them fed then I'd advise you to get there early to get a spot at the front where you can see them. I wasn't hugely disappointed, as I'd seen penguins being fed before. There were also rocks that you could climb on to see over but I wasn't that interested and I thought knowing me I'd end up slipping and falling.

As the keeper feeds them he tells you about them. He had a microphone attached to him but it wasn't very clear. This could have been that I wasn't right at the front but where I was stood I still should have been able to hear what he was saying. I found myself having to concentrate on what he was saying and then after a while I gave up. I thought it could be that the microphone wasn't close to his mouth (or maybe too close) as he sound really muffled.

Throughout the park there are various aviaries containing different birds. I can't remember which was in everyone and if I could remember I'm sure telling you about all of them would make a boring read. So I'll mention some of what they have.

The first thing that I really want to mention is the Kookaburra. When we approached the aviary he (or indeed she) was sat on a branch with a dead mouse. This is obviously what they had just put in the cage to feed it. What was really funny was the fact that although it was dead the Kookaburra was bashing it against the branch as if he were killing it. Call me sick but I found this hilarious! The sign said that if you whistle or growl then it'll talk (or laugh!) back at you. So we tried this. I was whistling at it and he went to open his beak and then decided this was unwise, as he'd lose his mouse. He still let out a little noise though.

The Snowy Owls were also a pleasure to watch. I noticed two keepers go in and feed them so I dashed over to see how they reacted out of curiosity. I was surprised when they were alarmed at them entering their enclosure. They moved to the other side of the cage and only when they were gone did they venture over to see what was for lunch.

The Toucan House contains two different species of Toucans. It also has other related birds in with them. They are very pretty and one was flying around a bit and then another was doing the same. It was as if they were playing a game.

I kept getting the Cranes, Storks and Pelicans mixed up as they look very similar. The Pelicans are separate and are situated in the river away from the Cranes and Storks. All of these birds are rather big and impressive to look at. The Flamingos are all in a lake and had plenty of space. There weren't only pink ones, some were a lighter shade. Birdland has 3 of the 6 species of Flamingos. Nearby the Cassowary and Rhea (members of the Ostrich family) are large birds so they had a larger section. I don't really remember much about them but I did think they were Ostriches until I saw the sign.

As you can imagine certain birds need to be kept in a certain habitat. The Tropical House is heated to the temperatures that the birds and plants would be used to. As we entered I thought it would be really humid but it wasn't bad at all. I find heat effects me but I was ok in here. You walk round and can see the various birds. There aren't many and you have to look properly to see them all as they can hide quite well. Inside they have a waterfall which I'm assuming they've added to make it as natural as possible for the birds. This are is accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs. The Desert House is much smaller than the Tropical House but still worth taking a look. In here there were several birds. I'd forgotten what they were but with the help of the website I can tell you they have Desert finch and Carmine Bee-Eaters as well as others (they didn't say). These birds are really small and it wasn't easy to spot them at first. You walk in through some doors and then you can view the birds from here. You can't walk about them as you can other areas.

We were very lucky and the day we went was a Bird of Prey Encounters Day. Looking at the website these aren't very often but if you are planning a trip then it would be worthwhile seeing if it was an Encounter Day. Unfortunately the dates they list online go from April to September. It could be that they haven't updated it but it does look like they tend to do this during the peak season. The birds are from the Cotswold Falconry Centre so this is the reason that they don't do this frequently. At Birdland on such a day there is an Owl (Bob), a Hawk (Tommy) and a Buzzard (I didn't catch his name). As we approached there were some people already there and the handler was telling them about the birds of prey. You also get a chance to hold the bird. You're given a glove and then he places the bird on your glove. There were many children who where delighted at this opportunity. My Gran was brave enough and she held Tommy for a bit. If I had done it I would have gone for Bob as I like Owls. I'm not sure what breed of Owl he was but he was huge to this is what put me off.

The park does have an active breeding programme. They try to raise public awareness through education. There is further information about their conservation on their website and you can also adopt birds from the website as well. So if you want to adopt an owl or penguin or know anyone else who would like to then it could make a unique present. There are actually 22 different types of birds you can adopt.

***Where to eat?***

The Penguin Café offers a small range of food. It isn't extensive by any means and is more for a quick snack than anything. We went in and had a cup of tea and toasted teacakes (well I had a doughnut mmm!) They were very nice and if I were ever there again I'd definitely pop in for a cuppa and a cake. They do have sandwiches and I saw then doing jacket potatoes and things like pizza slices. If you were after something more substantial then having something to eat outside of the Park would be better. In Bourton-on-the-Water there are many restaurants and pubs in which you can eat. However, if you are after a quick snack to recharge your batteries then this is ideal. There are seats inside and they have a small patio area at the back which have a few seats outside. We sat outside at the main entrance seeing as it was a nice day. There are also plenty of picnic areas if you wanted to take your own food with you.

***Prices***

It costs £5.20 for adults, £4.20 for Senior Citizens and £3 for Children (ages 4-14). Under 4s are free. You can get Family Tickets (2 Adults & 2 Children) for £15 or if you think you'll visit frequently then Season Tickets are available (Adults: £21 Children: £12 Senior Citizens: £17).

***Opening times***

The park opens every day from 10am and is only closed on Christmas Day. Between April and October it closes at 6pm and between November and March it closes at 4pm. The last admission is one hour before closing. I wouldn't recommend that anyway as to get the full benefit you need about 3 hours.

***What did I think?***

I wasn't expecting it to be all that good but I really did enjoy myself. There isn't enough to see that you'd need to spend a full day there but there is plenty to see and do. I was surprised how pretty it was inside. The River Windrush runs through the seven-acre park and there are many trees, which make it a nice habitat for the birds. There are several wooden bridges that go over the lake and the river so manoeuvring around the park is very easy.

Overall it was an enjoyable day out. Children would have a great time so it is ideal for families with young children. They shouldn't get too bored, as it isn't that big. Having said that I was actually surprised how big it was inside though. As I said I'd walked past it many times and from the entrance it doesn't look all that big. It does go back quite a way though. We spend around 3 hours there and only left because we had to get back to the car. My Gran has a Blue Disabled Parking Badge and that entitled us to 3 hours free parking so we were limited. I guess we could have popped out and changed the time on it but we had seen anything by that point anyway and were ready to go home.

It wasn't overly crowded which was ideal as well. Whilst looking at the website I noticed that they do allow school visits so on other days it could be far busier or have big groups of children running around. As we visited on August Bank Holiday there were no school children about though.

There is plenty of information to read on boards outside the aviaries or outside the areas the birds were. They were interesting and told you interesting things about each bird and it included how endangered it was as well.

The park is wheelchair and pushchair friendly. It is mostly flat so it is easy to get around. Wheelchairs are available which are free of charge which I thought was rather good. Another thing worth mentioning is that dogs are allowed in all areas of the park but they must be kept on a lead.

For further info:

www.birdland.co.uk 

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