Blackbrook Zoological Park

Between Leek and Ashbourne on the A523 near Bottom House is one of the largest collections of world wide bird species in the country.  It has a cafe, education office, feeding events and meet the warden event as regular features.

Blackbrook is one of the few places that I know of where you can see a range of Pelican species.  These birds are in enclosures in flocks and there is a viewing platform with opening windows to allow clear photographs of the birds.

The penguins are another nice attraction.  You can see then being fed, both on the surface and through viewing windows under water.

Of course, there are the cute animals with a small family group of meerkats.  They are in a suitable enclosure where you can observe natural behaviour.  This is the lookout, watching out for predators whilst the others play and frolic on the ground. They also have mongoose!

In the tropical house you can see birds in the trees and on the ground as well as animals behind glass.

There are many types of Ibis, some of which I had not come across before.  In many of the enclosures the birds are able to fly below a high level net covered flight roof.

For me, the highlight of the visit was to see a ring tailed lemur with a baby.  She was a very attentive mother and I took an awfully large number of pictures to try and get a good shot of the youngster.  This bird zoo is worth a serious visit and the 3 hours we spent is just a quick look at the place.