For the last couple of weeks the Royal Spoonbills have taken over one of the ponds at the Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve and to the delight of many photographers and bird watchers, they forage for food right in front of a hide. I have visited them a couple of times now and witnessed behaviours that I had never seen before – yet made perfect sense. They were assisting each other to preen their necks. With very long beaks this can be a difficult task. I really do need to remember to check my settings though. I had come straight from the kingfishers and had not thought to look at my settings before clicking off these images. Usually I will adjust them different when photographing white birds to ensure I get enough detail in their feathers. Regardless I am happy with these.
