(coming soon)
Lower Rhine
Platalea leucorodia
The spoonbill is not especially common in Holland, by which I only mean that I haven’t seen many of them. This one was minding his own business beside a pond on the Dutch-Belgian border, quite near the shore of the North Sea. Finally he got bored with having his picture taken and flew off in his graceful and unhurried way. The Latin name is Platalea leucorodia of the genus, Ciconiidae (same as the stork).
In German it is called Löffler, and in Dutch, Lepelaar. The French, Italians and Spanish also name the bird after utensils: Spatule blanche, Spatola, and Espátula.
