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Originally Posted by wend5000  ...Where and when is the best place to catch Kingfishers. (I am in somerset)
I think nesting is march-april time.... But i have looked on here and seen some lovely shots by Jeffh with them in snow.... Wendy |
Hi Wendy and welcome to WAB.
I'm afraid I can't help with the "where" bit of your question as I have no knowledge of Kingfisher territories in Somerset.
As for the "when", I find that Kingfishers are generally at their most active soon after first light when they're out and about looking for fish.
Kingfishers typically pair up in early to mid-February and have a long breeding season, sometimes running through to September/early October and with 3 broods. However, I'd recommend that you avoid searching them out in this period for fear of causing them disturbance at or near their nest which can be a criminal offence
if "intentional" or "reckless" and done without the appropriate licence from Natural England. Sadly, disturbance at nest sites is becoming more of a problem as more and more photographers join the quest to get some good Kingfisher shots, though all too often without due regard for the birds' welfare and sometimes without even realising that they're near a nest site
Incidentally, my snow photos were taken on Easter Sunday of this year when our local pair were already nesting.
There's lots more information about their behaviour in my Kingfisher Diary forum thread -
Kingfisher Diary (with photos)
I hope this is useful.
Jeff