Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
Nikon D7200, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6
f/6.3, 1/500s, ISO 500, 500mm Norfolk May 2019
f/6.3, 1/1600s, ISO 400, 500mm
This is the species that got me into bird watching. Over 40 years ago a teacher at my primary school was a member of the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and told us stories, including the one about the symbol of the RSBP, the Avocet. A bird that was practically extinct in the UK by the 1940’s.
At this point (early 80’s) it was recovering but still a rare sight in the UK.
Fast forward a few decades and I had the pleasure of seeing hundreds of these birds for the first time on the North Norfolk coast. No longer rare, they are a UK conservation success story and one that I have been glad to be able to photograph.
They certainly are 😃
This was just one small slice of the scene in front of me, there was 5 or 6 times this number. The first time I saw them many years previously there was 5!
I have definitely seen many species of wading birds asleep on one leg, I think they generally do it to conserve heat.