The Scuttlers & The Sweeper…
(The Sanderlings & the Spoonbill at Holkham, Norfolk…)
It was a trek, a long hike through wooded, then sandy trails
Towards dunes, with marram grass spiky and green,
But even so, there was much more beach to be grappled
With until the lively shallows of the North Sea could be reached…
The two sanderlings suddenly appeared, flicking bills and tails
Upon the shoreline, legs scuttling at tide’s edges, barely seen.
Short black legs rushed in short sprints, their wing-backs dappled
And fast poking beaks scavenged voraciously for marine morsels beached…
The spoonbill suddenly emerged upon a marshland pool, the flails
Of its long, ladling bill fishing beneath calm water in sweeps serene.
Neck yellow was visible, its wispy crest lifted in the breeze as black legs ambled
In channels silently absorbed, with its scouring black beak for forage unleashed…
Pete Ray
24th March 2025…
The yellow on its neck appears in the breeding season…
A good bird to spot at Holkham in sunlight…
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