Royal Spoonbills in a Macrocarpa

At last, it would seem that the spoonbills got the memo....

After yesterday's frustration at not being able to get this shot, today the spoonbills were in their macrocarpa hideout.

In all my years of commuting into town, I've never seen these birds in this particular tree before until earlier this week. This particular group of spoonbills (this is about half of the number of birds visible in the tree by the way) have been hanging out at the mouth of the Kaituna river as it enters Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora for the last week or so.

I love the behaviour of these birds; I've been watching them for years at the lake and they seem to have real character, something that many birds that congregate in large groups seem to have. Whether it's the reinforcement of 'pecking order' (should that be spooning order?) or their flamboyancy, I'm not sure, but they're a fine sight - particularly on your morning drive to work.

Thanks for your comment on yesterday's star shot and for those who have expressed an interest in joining me for a astro-blipmeet. I'm going to have to keep numbers small to around 8-10 (I have a definite three so far), so if you're interested in joining me out on the peninsula on the night of 28 Feb, let me know asap.