I Wonder How the Spoonbills are Getting On?

5th June 2024

Time for a visit to Abberton to see how the Spoonbills are getting on, but first a look at the Layer de la Haye causeway. The old road was fairly quiet with no Nightingales singing and no butterflies but there was a Lesser Whitethroat singing and sticking its head out of the bushes occasionally. On my travels this year I seem to have heard more Lesser Whitethroats than Common Whitethroats, which a few years ago would have been unthinkable.

At the southern end of the causeway the Little Ringed Plover was not only there but having a bath........................

......................with much wing-flapping to dry its wings.

Also on the banks of the causeway was a Yellow Wagtail which was obviously a local breeding bird as it spent some of the time collecting food for its nest.

Now on to the Layer Breton causeway and although one or two Common Terns were fishing over the reservoir, one individual was having a preen on the bank and a male Kestrel was hovering overhead.

I have been coming to Abberton for over 50 years and although Shelducks can be seen on the reservoir or flying overhead, this is the first time I have seen them on the bank of the causeway and just 20 yards off the bank when I was photographing them

But now on to the Spoonbills, and there had been a dramatic change in the make-up of the heronry since my last visit on the 5th May. Only one Heron remained, no Cattle Egrets were visible but could have been hidden, and the heronry had been taken over by juvenile Little Egrets. There were a few Spoonbills present but no obvious nests, although I am sure there are three or four hidden inside.

Interestingly, there were no Spoonbill feeding flights, just a few short laps of the heronry otherwise I would have had no shots at all!!!!

As I have mentioned before Spoonbills are most elegant in foward flight, but far less so when coming in to land, especially in flimsy trees!!!

But now for a bit of intrigue. Earlier in the year I saw the Spoonbills in the top of the densely foliated willows and assumed they were breaking off twigs for their nests. But they were doing the same today but no sign of any twigs, but appeared to be picking something off the leaves. Any ideas?