The Three Graces

My mission at Maylandsea was to photograph the drains. The dirty deed done, I went for a walk along the seawall in the rain. I was delighted to see a large colony of avocets. I used to spend a lot of time messing about here as a child with the son of the owner of the boatyard and there were no avocets then. I knew about them though as our primary teacher taught us the actions for avocet, snipe and curlew beaks.

The avocet became extinct in Great Britain in 1840. Its successful recolonisation at Minsmere, Suffolk, in 1947 led to its adoption as the logo of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.


I met a couple and their lovely labradoodle dog and they told me that the avocets had arrived in Lawling Creek about ten years ago. What elegant birds they are. I loved watching them feeding using a side to side scything action with their delicately upturned bills.