BLOGANUARY 2025 DAY 24
I have been battling with my cold today, feeling ok through to quite rubbish depending on where I am since my last dose of paracetamol. Apart from dog-walking and venturing out to get my car serviced, I have stayed in the warm and dry, while Storm Éowyn did its thing, although thankfully we only had some strong gusts now and then – my daughter in Teeside has had powercuts all day but no other damage.
Anyway, back to the title of this post. Yes, apparently that is the collective noun for a group of Spoonbills, which I spotted on the Winterwatch livecam earlier today. Other names are a bowl, a runcible, and a service of these unmistakable birds.
I have seen one at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, but on the camera at Poole Harbour a group of a dozen or so were resting up on a shingle bank. They are large wading birds, with a long, spatulate bill which looks, wouldn’t you know, like a spoon. Clearly it was Friday afternoon when that bird got its name, and inspiration was running low…
I should have made the background darker but I was using up old paint and wanted a slightly watery look. I love how they balance on one leg.
