PHOTO COURTESY OF BRENNAN MULROONEY
I would love to have been with the group of visitors on a guided walk at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Cley Marshes last week. The group were treated to the amazing sight of 12 spoonbills feeding together. This is the highest number recorded in a group since the Second World War when 17 were seen in 1940.
Following the recent hot weather and lack of water (ha! well at least that was the case...), staff at the nature reserve opened an inlet pipe that runs water on to Pat's Pool. Stickleback fish - the 'genius' of the fish world - were sucked through the pipe, attracting the spoonbills.
The colour rings on two of the spoonbills indicated that the birds were hatched in the Netherlands. One has been recorded as far north as Caerlaverock, Scotland and Cadiz in Spain, where it spent the winter. These same two birds have regularly been on the south west coast of England, showing the distances they travel.
No comments:
Post a Comment