Shovelers

They do breed in small numbers on a nearby reserve,lovely bird to see.

By the way John you have posted this in Gear Guide so you may not get the response you were hoping for

OOOps thanks perhaps a Mod can move it ...............

One in flight

I see them semi-regularly in certain places.  I still remember the ones at Cowpen Bewely Woodland Park when I lived down south, watching them courting was amazing and you could get pretty close to them.  I saw some today at Montrose Basin.

Hi John

Nice photos - that bill does stand out like a sore thumb

Wonder why the bill is so large in the first place?  

Just one of these impulsive questions from here.

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Nicki C said:

Wonder why the bill is so large in the first place?  

Blackbird,I think is because one of the Shovellers ways of feeding is to swim in circles with the beak just skimming the water and they filter out the food skimmed from the surface,at least that is my understanding,maybe others will disagree.They can sometimes be seen doing this in groups filtering the water disturbed by the bird swimming in front

Shovelers are mostly winter birds round here. They arrive quite early though. These two were on my local patch on 18 September last year.

This year there were a few Shovelers (Anas clypeata), and those few were very nervous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3mM-5vP25c