21st May - Banjo bill pays a visit

It was 8.30pm on Thursday and I'd forgotten about the clap for NHS. Opening the front door I heard "Is this the way to Amarillo?" coming from Mr Cooper's music system. Looking up I was amazed to see two Spoonbills flying low over the cottage, a first in the village for me. Their distinctive spatulate shaped black and yellow tipped bills were clearly visible along with the rich ochre blaze across their chests indicating breeding adults.

Spoonbills at nest 

 Spoonbills were lost as a breeding bird in the UK in the 1660s due to habitat loss and due to the youngsters (known as branches) being eaten. In 1521 on a visit to King's Lynn Thomas Wolsey dined on a feast containing several Spoonbills along with three Bitterns, ten cygnets, twelve Capons, thirteen Plovers, eight Pike and three Tench. All that before the invention of Gaviscon.
  Breeding was confirmed at a secret location in East Anglia in 1998 ending a 330 year absence. Today there is a healthy breeding population at Holkham.

Painting by John Gould