Royal Spoonbill

[Colbol]

Hi everyone
I am totally new at this and have only started looking at different species of late.
So - I was very surprised to see a Royal Spoonbill at waste water plant in Pleasant Point - South Canterbury.
Am scanning all water bodies now to see what else is out there
Cheers
Colin

[FraserGurney]

Hi Colin, good spotting and great to hear there's another keen observer keeping an eye out for birds in Canterbury!

Cheers,
Fraser

[Paul Sagar]

Hi Colin, great to know that there's another pair of eyes keeping watch on the birds in South Canty. Regarding Royal Spoonbills in the Pleasant Point area - Joy & I have seen them near the Pareora Gorge as well as on the Opihi R above Pleasant Point.

Cheers,
Paul

[Colbol]

Thanks Fraser and Paul
I definitely take more time now to observe bird life around me. I must make an effort to explore more of my own back yard

[andrewcrossland]

A spot to keep an eye on Royal Spoonbills in South Canterbury is the southern side of the Opihi Rivermouth which looks like a good potential nesting spot.

Phil Crutchley and I found 22 Royal Spoonbills at this site on 25 March when we walked in from the beach access on the south side and looked into nooks and crannies that you can’t really see into from the usual access points on the North side. Our count is at the following link. Besides the Spoonbills there was 1 Black Stilt, 83 Pied Stilts and over 400 W/F Terns.

https://ebird.org/atlasnz/checklist/S105525221

The Spoonbills were roosting in a line of trees tucked in behind the beach (circled on the map below) which looks like an excellent potential colony site.

spoonbill 1.jpg (227.52 KiB) Viewed 198 times

opihi lagoon.jpg (200.91 KiB) Viewed 203 times

spoonbill 2.jpg (293.75 KiB) Viewed 203 times