Bourton-on-the-water is a beautiful village and home to several attractions including Birdland.
My kids love to visit farm parks and zoos and have always been fascinated by animals. Birds have usually had less appeal to them, except for the amazing flying demo we saw at Millets Falconry, so I was unsure what a visit to Birdland would be like.
There’s something very captivating about entering Birdland, with part of the river Windrush running through the park and plenty of mature trees, it feels like you’re stepping into an adventure. There are 130 species of birds to see and lots more to do too.
We stopped first with the penguins and at one point I thought we might not get to see the rest of Birdland. My boys were fascinated. You can get really close up and with various levels of viewing areas, they loved being able to see the penguins up top and swimming down below.
After finally prizing them away from the penguins we gently sauntered along the pathways, which are easy to push a buggy along too. There’s lots to see and grouped into interesting areas. The flamingos were stunning, the pelicans slightly scary but very impressive and lots of birds we had never seen before.
Jurassic Journey
If your kids love dinosaurs, then this is the perfect make believe adventure to go on. In a wooded area of it’s own, follow the pathways through, past life size dinosaurs, and turn the wheel on an interactive board to hear them roar. Just before the end of your adventure, you can hunt for dinosaur fossils in the Dino Dig.
The Jurassic Journey takes place through the Marshmouth Nature Reserve, keep a look out and you might even spot a kingfisher.
Indoor Discovery Zone
The indoor discovery zone is a great quality indoor education area where you can come face to face with fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. It’s just as interesting for the grown ups as it is for the kids.
Hatchery
Birdland run an active breeding programme and this is the perfect place to see eggs ready to hatch and new born chicks. We loved these cheeky fellows.
Children’s Play Area
Last stop on our fun day out at Birdland was a good old traditional play in the play park.
Eating & Drinking At Birdland
We brought a picnic with us and enjoyed sitting outside for a bite to eat. We did pop into the Flamingo café and bought a cake to take out. It was a warm day and the café had quite a strong smell of frying which put us off staying inside but that’s my only criticism of a really great fun family day out.
Parking
Birdland doesn’t have it’s own car park but Pay and display Car Parking can be found adjacent to Birdland on Rissington Road or alternatively there is a coach and car park at Station Road. We arrived early and found a space at the pay and display but it did fill up quickly.
