Mixed wetland bird enclosure

At Drusillas Park one of my favourite enclosures is our mixed wetland bird exhibit. This expanded from an old overgrown and dark mixed Sacred Ibis and Cattle egret cage into a lovely much more open enclosure that now contains not only these birds but also a couple of White-faced Whistling ducks and a small flock of immature Scarlet ibis.

The Sacred Ibis are the oldest and longest established birds in the enclosure, this species is famous for being featured in the hieroglyphics from ancient Egypt.

The Cattle egret are probably the most active of the species in the enclosure, also the ones that sit closest to the windows, allowing very good views to be had, I'm not sure, but as they have been in good plumage for a few months the birds we have are of the oriental race.

Our small flock of Scarlet ibis are still immature, so there's no sign yet of any red feathering, hopefully as they go through their next moult a few feathers should appear.

Then there are my personal favourites, the White-faced Whistling Ducks, these are lovely birds, and when seen well are full of intricate colours, they also have a lovely contact call, which is best descibed, unsurprisingly' as whistling!