The definite highlight of the visit was the Eurasian Spoonbill. A pair is nesting here. There was nowhere to get a clear view of the nest site and I could not see exactly what was going on. This action suggests it is still collecting nesting material. Note the yellow wash at the base of the neck and the extensive head (nuchal) plumes, both indicating breeding condition.
From this angle we clearly see the ‘spoon’ on the end of the bill.
More nesting material.
Not sure what it will do to the aerodynamics though.
This species really does define the term ‘elegant’.
Again sweeping that up-curved bill.
Oops: dropped that one!
Not everything is sweetness and light between these birds. A small territorial dispute.
The Avocet synchronised drowning team.
And the Avocet synchronised sleeping team.
This Avocet seems to be puzzled. Probably never seen an Eurasian Spoonbill on a very bad-hair day
Here an Avocet goes in for a closer look.
A crèche of Canada Geese with young from several broods walks among the Avocets
Here we see the long, straight and pink-based bill. This species seems able to ‘drown for England’ spending most of its feeding time with its head underwater.
Looks even worse in close up. Note that many birds are showing signs of wing-moult with either the outer secondaries or inner primaries (or both) missing. This tends to support the theory these are non-breeding birds now starting to lose ‘summer’ plumage.
Full marks if you identified these as Black-headed Gull chicks. Must un-gull-like.
A few in the colony here. There is a very high predation rate in these close colonies as any chick that strays in to another bird’s territory will be pecked. As a result chicks are frequently injured or killed.
An adult flies back to its nest-site
And a study in (green and) white. I am old-enough to remember when birders went searching for the great rarity of Little Egret. Here are four off-duty birds from a colony with at least a dozen nesting pairs.
It was not, generally, a sunny day and insects were rather few. This Blue-tailed Damselfly came to pose.
There were many wildflowers on the site including hundreds of these orchids – we were told they were Southern Marsh-orchids (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) and who am I to argue. There were a few Bee Orchids (Ophrys apifera) but none was camera-accessible.
(Ed Wilson)