Royal Spoonbill

Blipmate and I went on a little expedition this morning to a tiny island in the estuary that is only reachable at low tide.

We were plodding through the mud when Blipmate  spotted ahead about a dozen spoonbills  roosting in the islands sole tree - an old pine.That made us pick up our pace and we approached the tree, cameras at the ready.

Lots of pics later, and without warning, the entire flock rose into the air as one, circled the tree a couple of times and headed off to their fishing grounds.

It was magical to see them there. The sky was such an intense blue I had to de-saturate the pics a little to make them look real, but it really made the birds stand out.

Impossible to single out a photo to blip, so for those interested, I have included some extras of the birds in their tree, and when they all took off and circled the tree.

The Royal Spoonbill is an Australian bird, but after a few false starts began breeding at Okarito in NZ with the White Herons. Their numbers are now increasing.