Image of Royal Spoonbill

Description:

A group of six adult Royal Spoonbills wading in the shallows of a low tide in the lower reaches of Whanganui River. They were wading in an up river direction towards Cobham St bridge. Occasionally each bird was seen to feed in the shallow water using their bills in their customary fashion, side to side and dabbling in the soft mud. Although not uncommon on the lower Whanganui River, according to other reports, these are the first I've seen over the past three years of living here. Observation lasted a minute or so whilst I was cycling to work this morning. The birds behaviour was slightly nervous and as the area is often frequented by unleashed dogs being walked, I suspect they were soon disturbed after this sighting. Unfortunately I only had my iPhone on me to capture a photo so they are rather small in the frame but you get a good view of our wonderful river.