(Eurasian Spoonbill)
The Spoonbill is a somewhat rare visitor in Scotland but in recent years the number of reported sightings have been increasing. The nearest breeding colony is in Holland where it was considered in year 2000 that the colony was nearing capacity. In 2008 a pair bred somewhere in Dumfries & Galloway giving the first ever Scottish record of breeding success. The birds photographed here were present for several weeks in October/November 2006 and in June/July 2008 on the River Forth estuary at Kinneil and Skinflats Lagoons.