Avocet

It’s late, but still quite light, when we arrive at the River Exe and I’m delighted to see an Avocet on the muddy bank.

They’re busy, elegant, entertaining birds.

We cross to look at a larger mudbank and I can see there’s a flock of Avocets, but they’re very far out. I’m thinking that not even Wellington boots will get me out there, and safely back, when one flies close by:

Their beaks are amazing, aren’t they? Humans previously extirpated them from the UK and they only arrived back because of World War II protecting their coastal breeding grounds.

I put together a composite shot of it flying past:

They are so elegant I’m entranced.

As we return to the car in the fading light, the one we saw first is still out there, working the bank.

The persistence they have in meeting their daily struggles for existence is inspiring.