Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
Nikon D7200, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6
f/6.3, 1/500s, ISO 500, 500mm Norfolk May 2019
f/6.3, 1/1600s, ISO 400, 500mm
This is the species that got me into bird watching. Over 40 years ago a teacher at my primary school was a member of the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and told us stories, including the one about the symbol of the RSBP, the Avocet. A bird that was practically extinct in the UK by the 1940's.
At this point (early 80's) it was recovering but still a rare sight in the UK.
Fast forward a few decades and I had the pleasure of seeing hundreds of these birds for the first time on the North Norfolk coast. No longer rare, they are a UK conservation success story and one that I have been glad to be able to photograph.
Beautiful birds! It must have been something to see so many at once. Looks like one is standing on one leg to sleep like a flamingo.
They certainly are ๐
This was just one small slice of the scene in front of me, there was 5 or 6 times this number. The first time I saw them many years previously there was 5!
I have definitely seen many species of wading birds asleep on one leg, I think they generally do it to conserve heat.