Royal Spoonbills at Petone

I went looking for the tui again at Petone Estuary last night. I like the spot there for them because the light is behind me and illuminates the tui feathers beautifully at that time of day. Alas they were no where to be seen. The tide was on its way out and there was a white-faced heron mooching about but he wasn't doing anything exciting. I wandered about for a bit before hubby asked "what are those white birds over there?"

I knew in an instant what they were and was very keen to get 'over there'. Unfortunately that would have involved wading out in the water so I had to make do with some long distance shots of the two Royal Spoonbills that were casually feeding in the shallow water. They certainly did look very regal in their breeding plumage.

One of the bird took flight and headed over the other side of the estuary. I managed to capture one shot as it left. I wasn't ready for it to be flying however as the second one was still there I quickly flicked settings on the camera and when it took off too (as I knew it would), I clicked away with a smile.

With the sun shining directly on the white birds it was extremely hard not to get the whites to blow out, especially as I was shooting from such a distance. While the resulting images are cropped, I am happy with the outcome. Next time I might just have to find a dingy!