Spoonbill's morning work-out

    I dropped into Ryan's field hide early AM to find the reserves resident Spoonbill asleep in the middle of the lagoon with its bill firmly buried over its back between its wings,  Not much inspiration here but I took a couple of shots as you do and noticed that the Spoonbills reflection was quite strong even in the prevailing low light levels,  I locked my lens and focus onto the bird, turned on my remote shutter control and waited on the assumption that the bird must surely wake up shortly,  

The first sign of life came when the spoonbill started moving with a token preen of its under-feathers

This was followed by more energetic standing on the spot  wing exercises over several minutes

Its strong wing beats and impressive wingspan now created a more exciting image

In the final image below the Spoonbill used the full power of its amazing 1.35m wingspan to make a standing take-off while also creating the opportunity for this pleasing full stretch reflection before flying  off over the estuary