The Spinnies

It’s some three months since we’ve visited The Spinnies, so a bird watching session there seems long overdue.  The light is perfect, and the lagoon will be almost full with high tide fast approaching - ideal conditions for kingfishers. 

Sadly, however, as we arrive the warden tells us they’ve not been spotted for some time. He’s hoping that they’re nesting, and will return next month - but it seems the winter storms have literally played havoc with this little ecosystem. 

Still, watching from the hide is always worth an hour or two, and strangely knowing that a sighting is nigh on impossible makes for a more relaxed approach. I’m not constantly anxious that I may miss that lightning flash of blue, and when we finally leave, I’m not worried that the moment I move away a kingfisher will appear. 

Instead, we’re blessed with a stunning view across the lagoon towards the mountains, the trees just coming into leaf and the reed beds golden in the sun. We watch a heron preen for our entire visit, while egrets strut and fish along the water’s edge. 

And if we’re in need of any more entertainment, there are the newly replenished feeders by the hide frequented by querulous goldfinches and sparrows.

Today, I feel it’s time that The Spinnies themselves feature as my main, but there are extras of the heron and egrets - none of them quite sharp enough as distant shots to use as a main, I feel.