On the 6th of December I had a wonderful opportunity to take these pictures.

I had taken a visiting Swedish couple to Chom Pon much further down south. On my way back to Bangkok I decided to stop over night at Chao Sumran Beach, Petburi, as it was getting late. This day was the Thai Kings 80th birthday and celebrations were seen everywhere.

The next day I got up early to catch the beautiful morning light.
As it was, I quickly found a pair of these endangered Black-faced Spoonbills.
Normally, they are not seen in Thailand more then one or two individuals at the time.
I first spotted them in a salt pan along with many other waterbirds. Then they flew off and I did my best to follow them in the car. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I now got much closer. I took these shots before the light arose on this particular pond. In the end the birds flew off as they took note of one of my morning sneezes.

The birds had a peculiar way of feeding, swooping their bills in a half moon circular motion as they scanned for aquatic animals. Very active compared with Egrets and Heron who normally stand still in wait for prey.