I tend to see Ngutupapa | Royal Spoonbills on the beach solitary, in pairs or even three at a time. Today is the first time I've seen a flock of maybe 12 or 15 — I was unable to actually count because of distance and the big piece of driftwood.
This flock was sheltering from the southerly behind a big bit of driftwood — another reason to leave driftwood on the beach rather than cutting it up and taking it away. The ngutupapa were joined by a few Pied Stilts too, who could see the sense in taking shelter.
Such wonderful birds, and it’s thrilling to see them here in numbers.