Avocet flypast
I find Avocets so exotic I’m still partially resisting the idea that they actually exist in my life. Just look at how beautiful they are:
This one was part of a large flock on the River Exe viewed from a Stuart Line Cruises ship heading up and down the River Exe. They run a specially designed boat with a flat bottom on skis to navigate the shallow flooded channel.
Recurvirostra avosetta is their scientific name. Avocets were previously extirpated as a breeding bird in the UK. Since returning to the UK and recolonising Suffolk in 1947 they have spread. All they needed was an undisturbed foothold, which, thanks to abandoned and heavily fortified beaches in the Second World War, they were gifted.
The cruise boat’s
The cruise boat’s pilot had great skill to move close but not too close, and the guided birdwatching narrator had the sense to turn the microphone off as we moved past the bird flocks and the houses at Topsham.
A delightful day.
Have you seen Avocets?
More of the species we saw tomorrow after I’ve sorted through hundreds of photographs.
More Avocets
Avocet Avocets give me the same feeling I got when I first saw Greenfinches in the back yard of my terraced… read more
Recurvirostra avosetta There are Avocets on the River Exe and it's a thrill to see them. Just look at that ridiculous curved… read more
Poole Harbour Avocets A trip to Poole Harbour on board a boat means an opportunity to see Avocets flocking. Their black and white… read more
Avocets and mud It's odd that most wading birds are brown and heavily camouflaged and yet Avocets are, well, noticeable. I wonder why?… read more
Avocet It's late, but still quite light, when we arrive at the River Exe and I'm delighted to see an Avocet… read more
Avocets on the Exe We once killed all the Avocets in Britain. We destroyed their habitat by draining their salt marshes and we killed… read more