What do the birds do when nobody's looking?
Having been data collecting at Slimbridge for the past few months, I have noticed how the flamingos will after change their behaviour when there are different numbers of visitors in and around the grounds. Whilst flamingos are not bothered by visitors and do no shy away from them, the birds seem to freely wander into public areas and hang out on the paths that run through the some of the enclosures that house them. This is especially true of the South American Pen where, at quieter times of the day, you can get really "up close and personal" with the Chilean and Andean flamingos who live in this pen. The flamingos will come and stand around the benches at the front of the main body of water in the enclosure, resting, preening and squabbling with other. The Andean flamingos seem to enjoy ferreting around the edges of the grassed areas and in the channel of water behind the benches. Most amusingly, all of the flamingos seem to gravitate towards the stepping stones in this section of the enclosure and they congregate on these stepping stones in a similar manner to the excitable groups of children that enjoy playing on them during their visit to Slimbridge.
And not just at WWT Slimbridge too. I recently took some of my students up to WWT Martin Mere on a field trip and just before closing time (yes we stayed there all day!) the Chilean flamingos were all over the path, making quite a spectacle. It is always such a magical experience to get just that little bit closer to a "wild animal" when you come and visit animal collections like WWT.
So if you're after a closer view than normal of WWT's flamingos, try and visit just that little bit earlier than normal, or stay a little bit later and you too may be able to enjoy the flamingos as they come and enter into "human" territory. Move slowly, and talk quietly and the birds will continue to act out their everyday lives around you.
