kingfisher pair

[Naturenutz]

I saw quite a few single kingfishers leading up to xmas on my local coastal sluice areas.However i saw my first ones this year yesterday in somerset in the motorway edge ditch/rhines while at work.one was a single bird and the other two were together,giving away their location by constant calling.Do they pair up early or is this more likely a territory dispute ? smart birds .

[Dogghound]

They start to form pairs as early as December, but it usually begins around now (February into March). The male and female tends to hold seperate but close winter territories. It is hard to say exactly what you have seen without more detail i.e. were they chasing each other, did they make any other interaction, what did the calls sound like. It certainly sounds like a pair, they often chase each other and call from seperate perches when establishing/re-establishing mates.

[Naturenutz]

I was hard to tell how they were interacting as when i looked around the corner bend in the ditch one was in flight away from me and the other left its perch and followed split seconds later.I heard the calls and couldnt put a bird name to them until it eventually clicked ahhh kingfishers,so i went and looked.
Thanks for your reply dogghound