Rain washes across the saltmarsh, numbing my lips and fingers. The deluge is unavoidable, as it has been all year. It’s been one of the wettest winters on record and harder to get around. Glimpsing a huddle of white feathers, I try to silence my squelching, not wanting to disturb the sheltering bird. Its wings flare, as though preparing for flight, but the little egret remains in place. It considers the pool at its feet, buffered from the rain by the reeds.
Behind it, the silver River Taw winds into the estuary. Standing on the track, I catch the shimmering white breasts of lapwings at the water’s edge, fluttering like the tail of a kite before takeoff. They ripple but do not fully rise. The only real movement is from the water. Rain sheets in from the side; the river surges with the tide while the rest of us stand, crouch or falter in the murk, unable to muster the same momentum.
Beside the lapwings, what looks at first like a heap of snow takes on the form of feathers, legs, wings – two spoonbills are roosting. They are known for their distinctive eponymous bills: long, flat and spatula-shaped, and currently concealed as they sleep with their heads tucked under their wings.
Once plentiful in the UK, the spoonbill population plummeted during the 17th century when the birds’ habitat was extensively drained, alongside the toll from continued hunting. It took 300 years for conditions to improve. Careful conservation methods that considered the delicate ecological requirements of their habitats, as well as milder winters as a result of the climate crisis, have contributed towards their return in small numbers to limited locations.
Searching for food, they sweep their striking bills from side to side in the water. In flight, they move with their long necks stretched forwards. But now, they sleep. Like the little egret, like the lapwings, they are fixed. Finding stillness amid the downpour, they wait for the right time to lift their heads, to extend their necks, to spark the grey with white, and rise.
• Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024, is available now at guardianbookshop.com
