Although I feel 100% better than I did last week, my throat is killing me today. So mid afternoon had to nip into Co-op to get some throat sweets. After this I felt a tour of the estuary was in order, the tide was well up.
I stopped besides a small flock of Gulls resting on the water mid way along the estuary. As I pulled in they all took the air, and in the air beyond them were two immature Spoonbills! Shocker! They circled around and dropped down onto Seaton Marshes.
I started fiddling about with my phone and sent the texts out, but then noticed they were in flight again and were about to pass right over my head! I grabbed the camera out of my car and managed to take three photos. Two of the photos looked like this...
Ooops - missed!
But the other photo, the first one I took in fact, looked like this...
That's better.... only slightly mind!
Same photo but with a little more zoom. Looks like the right hand bird is missing a secondary from its left wing, have you seen this bird?
They carried on and flew south over town, where Karen got to see them from her house. I drove to the seafront and watched them fly west over Seaton Hole into the distance. This is where Ian M also managed to get them on his house list, a cracking Durley Road tick that Ian!
The two Whooper Swans are still with us, a female-type Black Red remains on Trevelyan Road and 13 Common Scoters were off Seaton Hole (one drake).
These Spooners just go to show how brief some of our scarce visitors can be, and how easily they can be missed. When something like this happens it really makes me wonder what else we've missed over the years...
I stopped besides a small flock of Gulls resting on the water mid way along the estuary. As I pulled in they all took the air, and in the air beyond them were two immature Spoonbills! Shocker! They circled around and dropped down onto Seaton Marshes.
I started fiddling about with my phone and sent the texts out, but then noticed they were in flight again and were about to pass right over my head! I grabbed the camera out of my car and managed to take three photos. Two of the photos looked like this...
Ooops - missed!But the other photo, the first one I took in fact, looked like this...
That's better.... only slightly mind!
Same photo but with a little more zoom. Looks like the right hand bird is missing a secondary from its left wing, have you seen this bird?They carried on and flew south over town, where Karen got to see them from her house. I drove to the seafront and watched them fly west over Seaton Hole into the distance. This is where Ian M also managed to get them on his house list, a cracking Durley Road tick that Ian!
The two Whooper Swans are still with us, a female-type Black Red remains on Trevelyan Road and 13 Common Scoters were off Seaton Hole (one drake).
These Spooners just go to show how brief some of our scarce visitors can be, and how easily they can be missed. When something like this happens it really makes me wonder what else we've missed over the years...
Meanwhile at least one local birder was hurrying to Seaton Marshes, where he understood they had last been seen apparently landing! Ah well, can't win 'em all. ;o)
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