Spoons

I have been seeing the Spoonbills at close range in Holes Bay on and off since December but never, it seems, in the sunshine. That all changed on Sunday when a gap in the Dorset Youth Football League fixture list left me free to take advantage of the fine weather. Just one young bird was present but it performed royally, at least until two separate, enthusiastic but not very careful photographers, one with a compact camera, got a bit close. On the first of these occasions it flew around in a loop and came back; on the second, it decided enough was enough and went out to roost in the bay. A shame as I had sat carefully huddled behind a rock for several hours waiting for the tide to turn, for the birds to come in close, for the swans to get out of the way and for the tricky light to get as good as it was ever going to get.