I love the Mallee, I love spoonbills and I love the image of this bird as it flies down to an ephemeral lake.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 1600
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400 L IS USM EXT
Yellow-billed Spoonbills are larger than their Royal cousins. They’re between about 76-91cm in height and they weight about 1.7kg which is about 250 times the mass of the tiny thornbills I enjoy photographing!
They can be found in areas with suitable habitat across mainland Australia, they miss out on enjoying the beautiful Tasmanian countryside. They feed by sweeping their spoon-shaped bill back and forth across shallow waters. The inside of their bill has sensory papillae which enables them to feel for aquatic insects in dirty water or at night.
This shot was taken at the end of summer, when the mini lake was almost dry and the surrounding grasses and reeds had turned brown. I was at Neds Corner in the far northwestern corner of Victoria, a place that feels like home every time I’m lucky enough to be there.
Happy birding from home, Kim
~ Facebook page Kim Wormald – lirralirra
~ Facebook group Ethical Bird Photography
It looks like a painting
They’re beautiful birds for sure
Lovely post Kim. Apart from elegant Spoonbill and mellow coloured grasses, I immediately want to visit Ned’s Corner😊
Thanks so much Alison. I hope you’ll like it as much as I do, even ‘visiting’ it online is inspiring 🙂
How very, very beautiful.
I hope you can get to that ‘home of your heart’ again very, very soon.
I delight in the wonders you share each and every week.
Thank you EC. It’s good to revisit with memories so will be even better to revisit in reality!