Kingfisher Diary (with photos)

[monkey]

Congratulations Jeff on all counts - a superb photo as usual - winning the 3rd prize - and interest in your book possibly
Your patience and expertise in kingfishers is getting its rewards

Linda

[Brocker]

You can put me down for a book whenever it comes along. . . Congrats on competition. I glad that you have been recognised for your hard work in obtaining one of many stunning images of the Kingfisher. Keep going and may there be many more. . .

[GME]

Originally Posted by JeffH

My sincere apologies to all the regular followers of this thread for the fact that it's now more than 4 weeks since my last update, but I've been incredibly busy on all fronts with Kingfisher watching in the early mornings; Barn Owl watching in the evenings and trying to squeeze in a few hours at work in between

I decided to enter the Club's Annual Colour Print Competition earlier this evening and, to my surprise and delight, won 3rd place with this shot. I'm over the moon



Jeff

No need to apologise Jeff! It's something to look forward to whenever you manage to put an update on.

And great stuff on the competition. Can't believe you only got 3rd place though! Well done

Gareth

[kashirk]

Hi Jeff

I'm new to the site. Excellent photos. What camera and lens do you use for such clear shots.

Cheers

Kash

[DavyG]

Hi Jeff,

I expect you've been extremely busy of late, hence no news for a while.

I hope all is going well with you and the kingfishers, I'm looking forward to reading your next update.

Best wishes,

Dave

[zail]

Wow! Just come accross this thread and have spent the last hour reading it and being amazed by the fantastic pictures and the great narrative!

I saw my first kingfisher as a small child and have had the odd "what was that bright blue flash?" sighting over the years and one brief look at a perched one near the River Severn last year.. you are so lucky to have them near you! I agree that you should write a book based on the diary -all your hard work deserves great reward!

Now I'm just desperate to know what happened next - have they raised a family??? Do you have wonderful pics of the fledgling fishers?? I hope so and look forward to the next update

[Tracey.A]

To think I was quite bereft when Spring watch finished, however we now have 'Jeff watch' and it's brilliant! Thank you Jeff for sharing this with us, I can't wait for the next episode of 'Jeff watch'! Love the photos.

All the best

Tracey

[JeffH]

UPDATE (long overdue!) – 4th July 2008
Part 1 (covering period from 24th to 30th April)

*****************************************
REMINDER
As a fairly rare and easily disturbed bird, the Kingfisher is afforded the highest degree of legal protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. If you “intentionally or recklessly” disturb a Kingfisher whilst trying to photograph it “in, on, at or near” the nest or whilst it has dependent young, and without the necessary Licence from Natural England, you may be committing a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 6 months.
******************************************

First of all, many thanks to everyone for your kind comments and continuing encouragement since my last update on the 24th April (especially to Davy G for the ever so gentle reminder!) – can 10 weeks really have gone by since then?

I’m really sorry to have kept you all in suspense for so long but I’m struggling to find the time to do everything at the moment and with several ‘projects’ now on the go and with more and more time being spent ‘in the field’ (plus 2 glorious weeks away on the west coast of Scotland during May, resulting in a couple of thousand of photos yet to be edited/processed!), I’m afraid I’ve had little time to spend in front of the computer and my visits to WAB have therefore been few and very brief in recent weeks.

I hope this update makes up for some of my recent tardiness but there’s a lot to tell you about with all sorts of twists and turns, drama, some violence and good and bad news so, be warned, it’s quite a long read. So much so that I’ve had to split it into two parts – I’ll try to finish and post the 2nd part within the next 24 hours. By the way I’d recommend you get yourselves a nice caffeine-based drink to help to see you through it!

Incidentally, in answer to Kash’s question – all my photos are taken with a Canon EOS30D camera, mainly using the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS zoom lens (aka ‘the Pump’) but, more recently, also with a Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS zoom.

Right then, to briefly re-cap - in my 24th April update I said “I expect hatching to take place within the next 3 – 4 days” and at that point in time the birds were on their 4th nesthole of this breeding season, having been flooded out 3 times. Here’s some extracts from my diary/observation notes since then:-

Saturday 26th April – on site by 5.30am. Approximately 1 hour later the female emerged from the nesthole onto a nearby perch and started calling loudly and in a rather agitated state. I scanned the area for signs of what might be troubling her and spotted a squirrel in a tree overhanging the nesthole, though several metres above it. This, I thought, must be the cause of the bird’s obvious anxiety. How wrong I was – as moments later the female flew off just around some bushes and out of my vision only to return almost immediately followed by 3 other Kingfishers with all 4 birds flying towards me in a very compact group (literally inches apart) and calling loudly – another intruding pair had entered the territory!

The resident pair then remained very active, flitting around the nest site area rather nervously for the next 10 minutes or so.

Half an hour later the two males flew right by my hide, one in hot pursuit of the other and screeching loudly, whilst the female re-entered the nesthole. The two males then continued chasing each other around the area until I left the site some two hours later and with the female remaining in the nesthole throughout.

Tuesday 29th April – I arrived on site at 6.35am to the sound of loud agitated calling as I approached. As I entered my on-site hide the reason became obvious – the two males were sat on perches near the nesthole behaving very aggressively, calling loudly and then proceeded to chase each other around again.

At 6.50am the female flew in carrying a tiny fish which she took straight into the nesthole – a clear indication that hatching had taken place! This was, of course, excellent news after having been flooded out of their 3 previous nestholes. However, with the continued presence of the intruding male and the resulting disturbance to the parent birds’ normal feeding regime I couldn’t help feeling some concern for the future wellbeing of the hatchlings.

Here’s a photo of the female with one of the tiny fish brought in to feed the hatchlings –



Meanwhile the two males continued their loud squabbling, chasing each other all round the nest site area making horrible screeching noises and with occasional stand-offs as they perched and glared at each other aggressively, sometimes as little as a half metre apart and often on the same branch or perch, before one flew directly at the other and the chasing/screeching kicked off again. On two occasions within the space of about 40 minutes the two males fought each other so frantically they actually fell into the water locked together in battle and with one bird clearly trying to drown the other by holding it under the water by the neck. This was really quite distressing to watch and whilst I was tempted to leave my hide in an effort to disturb them I felt that the intensity of their fighting was such that a temporary break in it would achieve absolutely nothing. I therefore decided, somewhat reluctantly, to let nature take its course – survival of the fittest and all that.

Sadly I missed the chance to get any really decent images of all this action. As many of you know, it’s sometimes difficult enough to get a good shot of a single perched Kingfisher and, in my experience, it’s practically impossible to get one of two or more of them in flight. In any case, I was too far away from the action and with the wrong lens fitted to my camera. However, there follows a selection of very poor quality images which I’ve had to crop and process far too much but which I hope will at least convey a sense of the drama, intensity and aggression of the action I’ve described.

Here's a few shots of the birds chasing and attacking each other in mid-air-













Here they're having a 'stand off' (or perhaps just pausing for breath) -



and here's some of them trying to drown each other -











and then breaking up -



At about 8.20am and during one of their breaks from fighting I watched one of the males catch and quickly consume two small fish from a perch quite near the nesthole. He clearly had no intention of taking either of these fish to the recently hatched young birds and I believe the male bird concerned was the intruder. Here’s a photo of him –



Just after this the female emerged from the nesthole and flew off, at which point the bird I believe to be the intruding male entered!! I feared the worst – ie. that he had seized the opportunity to enter the nest to kill the young (as intruding males often do).

This male remained in the nesthole for almost 12 minutes and on exiting made a couple of cleansing dips in the water before settling on a tree root protruding from the bank nearby. Moments later the female returned with another tiny fish which she took into the nesthole and the male bird flew off.

It was now 8.45am and I had to leave the site to go to work. I hadn’t seen the resident male for almost an hour by then and as I left the site I was more than a little concerned that he had been injured, scared away or perhaps even killed by the intruder. Also, that the intruding male may have killed the chicks!

Wednesday 30th April – Needless to say, after yesterday’s dramatic action I was on site at first light (5.05am) and desperate to learn the fate of the hatchlings and their parents. On this visit I decided to take up position in my dome hide on the bank just opposite the nesthole and within a few minutes of doing so a male arrived and briefly hovered in front of the hole before flying off again – but which male was it? - I’m afraid I just couldn’t tell as I only saw it briefly and in flight.

A few minutes later a male re-appeared, this time carrying a small fish, and went into the nesthole. He stayed in there for nearly 10 minutes and then the female arrived (with another small fish) and also entered the nesthole. The male then came out of the hole and flew off. This feeding activity clearly demonstrated that the young birds (or at least some of them) were still alive. I was so pleased to see this and that all my fears for the hatchlings and their ‘Dad’ had apparently been unfounded.

At 5.50am the female was back again with another small fish – the 3rd of the morning – and at 6.10am she brought in the 4th.

Soon after I heard what I thought sounded like the characteristic ‘plop’ of a Water Vole entering the water. I carefully looked all around the water’s edge within my range of vision and, sure enough, a minute or two later a Water Vole came swimming around and clambered out onto a section of low banking beneath some exposed tree roots and just a few metres from my hide position. This was my first sighting of a Water Vole in more than a hundred visits to the site and adds weight to my efforts to preserve the area from the threat of development. Although it was in a rather deeply shaded position I did manage to get a few shots of it and here’s a couple of them –





Returning to the Kingfishers - by 7.35am the parent birds had brought in a total of 8 small fish between them and, so far, I had seen nothing of the other male. However, as the female was leaving the nest after the 8th delivery I heard some agitated calling from some little distance away and just as a male bird arrived silently (ie without calling), and without a fish, onto a perch near the nesthole. This male went into the nesthole and stayed in there. Then, just after 8am, the female returned with the 9th fish of the day; went into the nesthole but immediately retreated from it (coming out backwards) and flew off. So far as I was aware the male that had gone in some 25 minutes earlier was still in there and this presumably explained why the female had reversed out – the nesthole tunnel of a Kingfishers’ nest is only wide enough for one bird and they can only turn around in the nest chamber at the end of the tunnel - but which male was in there and why had he stayed in so long?

Unfortunately, at this point the area was disturbed by some passing dog walkers and, as I had to leave for work anyway, I took the opportunity to unpeg my hide and leave the site without disturbing the birds – again, as yesterday, feeling a little unsure about exactly what was going on in the nesthole.

Incidentally, with hatching having taken place on either Sunday 27th or Monday 28th April and working on the average fledgling period for Kingfishers of between 23 and 27 days, I reckoned the young birds would be leaving the nest between about the 20th and 25th May – right in the middle of my holiday in Scotland! And so it seemed that with this brood I wouldn’t get to see the fledglings actually leaving the nest.

Finally and as mentioned earlier, I’ll post Part 2 of this update (covering the period right up to last Sunday) very shortly.

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers and Barn Owls)

*****************************************
REMINDER
As a fairly rare and easily disturbed bird, the Kingfisher is afforded the highest degree of legal protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. If you “intentionally or recklessly” disturb a Kingfisher whilst trying to photograph it “in, on, at or near” the nest or whilst it has dependent young, and without the necessary Licence from Natural England, you may be committing a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 6 months.
******************************************

[Bub-les]

now I know why I "booked my seat"!
Worth the wait
Eagerly awaiting the next installment
Barbara
PS those fighting photos are outstanding especially the third one.

[pressld2]

Wow!

Another brilliant update Jeff - thank you! It's the next best thing to being there.

Those shots of the males fighting may not be amongst the best from a technical viewpoint, but they're incredibly powerful from a dramatic perspective. Left me almost breathless!

Dave P.

[DavyG]

Excellent update Jeff, great pics as always.

I look forward to the book!

Dave

[zail]

Amazing insight into the lives of these wonderful birds!

Thanks very much Jeff

[Tracey.A]

I can only echo everyone's comments on your fascinating diary of these Kingfishers. Your observations and photos really are superb! Congratulations on the photo competition

Thank you.

Tracey

[JeffH]

My thanks to Barbara, Dave P, DavyG, zail and to Tracey for your kind comments since I posted the 1st part of my latest update yesterday. As promised, here's Part 2 - I hope you enjoy it.

UPDATE (long overdue!) – 4th July 2008
Part 2 (covering period 30th April to 29th June)

************************************************** ********
REMINDER
As a fairly rare and easily disturbed bird, the Kingfisher is afforded the highest degree of legal protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. If you “intentionally or recklessly” disturb a Kingfisher whilst trying to photograph it “in, on, at or near” the nest or whilst it has dependent young, and without the necessary Licence from Natural England, you may be committing a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 6 months.
************************************************** ********

For various reasons I’m afraid I wasn’t able to visit the site again until
Saturday 10th May – this was the 13th or 14th day after hatching and I expected to find the feeding regime in full swing with both parents bringing in a regular supply of fish. I was on site at 5am but by 5.45am there hadn’t been any visits to the nesthole and I hadn’t even seen a single Kingfisher – this was most unusual!

At 6.05am and again at 6.20am I heard some calling from the opposite side of the island from the nest but still no activity near the nesthole itself. This was becoming rather worrying and I decided to leave my hide and to have a walk around the area. I walked right round the lake but neither saw nor heard any Kingfishers during the 15 minutes or so that I was out of the hide.

Then at 6.40am a male bird flew from around the island onto a perch near my hide and from which it took 3 or 4 cleansing dips before spending several minutes preening. I noticed it had mud on its beak and all this clearly indicated that it had been engaged in nesthole digging. The bad news was, however, that I was pretty sure that this was the intruding male.

But how, may you ask, could I possibly distinguish between two adult male Kingfishers? Well, having watched our resident pair for hundreds of hours, on a regular basis and often at very close range I could recognise certain distinguishing features. Below are two photos – the first one of the long-resident male and the second of the intruder - and from which I hope you will see be able to see some subtle differences between them.





You’ll see that the long resident male is showing signs of thinning or worn plumage on the top of his head - a condition I can relate to and sympathise with! – though in his case it’s presumably due to the fact that in recent months he has spent many hours working on digging/renovating 4 nest holes with his head constantly rubbing on the ceiling of the nesthole tunnels.

You’ll also see that his beak is quite heavily marked and that the lower mandible is a little shorter than the upper. His beak is also a little shorter overall than the intruder’s (which is in pristine dagger-like condition), again no doubt due to nest digging activity.

There are also subtle differences in their posture when perched with the intruder usually standing more upright. His plumage is also slightly more brightly coloured or perhaps just cleaner.

Getting back to my observations on the 10th May, at 7.20am I saw another (or the same?) bird taking a cleansing dip in an area just where the banking of the island turns away and out of the range of vision from my hide.

I’d now been on site for nearly 2 ½ hours without having seen a single visit to the nesthole containing the chicks and, much as I resisted the thought, the harsh reality of the situation began to sink in – for some reason and since my last visit of 10 days ago the nest had clearly been abandoned. My guess is that the cause was predation by the intruding male but it could, of course, have been due to predation by something else.

At 7.30am I left the hide again to quickly check for signs of nesthole digging activity in the area in which I’d seen the bird(s) earlier. Sure enough – in a section of banking in what is probably the most inaccessible part of the whole area (due to the dense undergrowth and overhanging trees along both banks of the quite narrow section of water concerned) I found 3 holes I hadn’t seen before, one of which showed signs of having been newly dug.

I stayed on site for a further hour or so with just one more brief sighting of the quite brightly coloured intruding male as it flew by me towards the new nesthole area - he and his partner had clearly taken over the territory.

I know that one shouldn’t get too sentimental about the natural world but as I left the site shortly after 8.30am I couldn’t help feeling rather sorry for the long-resident but now seemingly displaced pair of birds that I had studied for so long and which, despite all their efforts and the use of no less than 4 different nestholes so far this year, had yet again been robbed of the chance of raising a successful brood. What a shame that something in the evolutionary process of these beautiful and all too rare birds has apparently made them their own worst enemies.

This was to be my last visit to the site before going on holiday on the 16th May and I didn’t get to go again until Tuesday 10th June when I called round briefly during the afternoon, anxious to discover how things had moved on since my last visit of exactly a month earlier. I had several sightings of the newly established pair, including two successful dives for fish from high, almost tree-top, perch positions and with one of the birds carrying a fish towards the new nesthole area, indicating that they now had young.

I wasn’t exactly sure of the position of the nesthole they were now occupying as I hadn’t yet found a way of observing this area due to its relative inaccessibility for the reasons mentioned earlier. There was certainly no way I could get my dome hide into that area and I decided I would have to utilise some fieldcraft and my recently purchased (mainly for use during my holiday in Scotland) camouflage clothing consisting of jacket, trousers, hat, head net and gloves – wearing all of which my wife was convinced would somehow get me arrested!

Over the next couple of weeks I made several more fairly short visits to the site, dressed in full camo gear and during each of which I managed to clear a little of the undergrowth (including nettles and brambles) along a stretch of the banking leading towards the new nesthole area. The camo gear seemed to work incredibly well with the Kingfishers and a variety of other birds (including Moorhen, Robin, Wren, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Garden Warbler) being seemingly unaware of and certainly untroubled by my presence and with several of these birds actually perching within a couple of feet of me. During the course of these visits I was also able to establish exactly where the occupied nesthole was.

Slowly but surely I cleared a very narrow strip of banking between the water’s edge and the trees running almost immediately alongside it and which I could crawl along, going under some large overhanging branches, to a narrow shelf area from which I could see the nesthole some 15 metres away. I decided this was about as near as I dared to go without risking disturbance and particularly as there was no way I could get my dome hide, or even my tripod, into this very small and inaccessible area. However, with the aid of some bits of camo scrim/netting and some natural foliage I did manage to string a small camouflaged screen along the overhanging branches on the water’s edge, giving me a concealed position from which I could now comfortably sit or lie to watch the birds entering and exiting the nesthole and with almost no risk of disturbing them. By the way, as I’m writing this I can’t help thinking I must be mad!!!!!!!!

I’ve watched the birds from this position on all my subsequent visits to the site but haven’t managed to take any decent photos due to their distance from me and the fact that the whole area is deeply shaded with many branches partly obscuring my view of the nesthole area.

The birds continued to bring fish into the nest throughout this period but, of course, not knowing when hatching took place (presumably during my month’s absence from the site) I had no idea when the young might fledge. Having said that, it was clear from the size of the fish the parent birds were now bringing in that the young must be well advanced.

Last Sunday, (29th June), I made another early morning visit to the site fully expecting that the youngsters may have fledged since my previous visit a few days earlier. I took up my concealed bankside position soon after 5am (again wearing full camo gear) and saw both adult birds bring in quite large fish, obviously indicating that there were still young in the nest. Then, to my astonishment and absolute delight, at 6.18am I watched as a fledgling flew out of the nesthole, came directly towards me and landed less than 3 metres right in front of me on an overhanging branch which I’d previously partially stripped of foliage to improve my view of the nest area and to give the birds a cleaner perch position.

For a few seconds I was mesmerised by the sight of the youngster as it steadied itself on the branch having just made its first tentative flight into the big wide world. It stretched and flapped its wings and looked around curiously, completely oblivious to my presence. My camera was on the ground behind me so after a minute or two I slowly reached for it, carefully raised it into position and then proceeded to take some 120 shots of the youngster as it remained perched there for some 12 minutes. One of the adult birds then flew in and landed on a perch nearer the nesthole; the adult called and almost immediately the youngster turned and flew to it with both of them then flying off together. What an unbelievable experience I had just enjoyed – although I’d seen two of last year’s fledglings leave the nest, I felt truly privileged to witness it again and this time to see and photograph a newly fledged Kingfisher at such close range.

By now it was just after 6.30am and as young Kingfishers tend to leave the nest in the early morning and often in fairly quick succession, I thought I might get to see further fledglings emerge. However, no more came out during the next 2 hours and the parent birds showed little further interest in the nest leading me to believe that the one I had seen was probably the last to leave, perhaps with its siblings having fledged the previous day. I had indeed been privileged to see the last of the brood depart and I left the site at 8.45am grinning like a Cheshire cat (but dressed in camo!).

Here’s a few photos of the fledgling. Whilst they are nearly all full frame shots please bear in mind that due to the heavily shaded position I had to use a very high ISO and much slower shutter speeds than one would consider ideal.











Incidentally and rather sadly, neither my wife nor I have seen any Kingfishers in our garden since before we went on holiday and I can only assume that the newcomers haven’t yet discovered our garden ponds and the varied ‘take away’ opportunities they offer. Hopefully they will do so, particularly in the winter months, and delight us once again with regular visits.

Finally, having won the nesting territory and successfully raised their first brood I would hope that this newly resident pair will have another brood this year and I’ll keep you informed of developments. However, I still think of the displaced pair with fondness and wonder what has become of them. I do hope the male wasn’t fatally or seriously injured during his valiant defence of their nesting territory, that they are both fit and well and have found themselves a new territory – still, I suppose that in terms of the preservation of the species and as their successors have raised a brood, all’s well that end’s well.

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers and Barn Owls)

************************************************** ********
REMINDER
As a fairly rare and easily disturbed bird, the Kingfisher is afforded the highest degree of legal protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. If you “intentionally or recklessly” disturb a Kingfisher whilst trying to photograph it “in, on, at or near” the nest or whilst it has dependent young, and without the necessary Licence from Natural England, you may be committing a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 6 months.
************************************************** ********

[zail]

Jeff,

I'm glad the newcomers have reared a brood - but like you I feel for the original birds! Lets hope that the newcomers find your garden soon and you have many more sightings!

Thank you so much for shring this - let us know if you have anymore news

zail

PS, enjoy the camo! lol

[sleipnerofasgard]

Wonderful stuff Jeff,with equal measures of joy and despair.i too echo your thoughts for the displaced pair but as you say,that's nature .Thank you once again for your wonderful story and pics and hurry up with the Barn owlsand of course, more kingfishers tales,it certainly puts my efforts to shame

Frank

[jennyb]

Great stuff, Jeff. Many thanks,

Jenny

[monkey]

Hi Jeff

You put so much effort and enthusiasm into your writing as well as your superb photos and believe me it is greatly appreciated I loved reading this latest chapter thanks. My sympathy to you on the loss of your original pair of birds after all the hours you spend studying them it must be difficult.
Keep up the good work and well done

Linda

[rlchew]

Hi Jeff

A long overdue update indeed .... but definitely worth waiting for.

Excellent stuff .... keep it coming .... no excuses .... your WAB audience awaits with anticipation

Richard

[GME]

Amazing Jeff. Thanks ever so much for your continued postings. As ever, immersing reading and brilliant photos

Gareth

[Bub-les]

Again thanks Jeff
You are so privileged thank you for sharing your time and photos.
Barbara

[Rob T]

Wow, this is some story Jeff, and the pictures are superb.
Im sure everybody is appreciative of your efforts to post this for us all to enjoy.
So well done and THANK YOU from me.

Regards

Rob

[stephen p]

Great stuff Jeff. I never tire of this thread it's great.

Love the Vole aswell

[JeffH]

UPDATE - 6th August 2008

Thank you everyone for your very kind comments following my last two-part update - I'll try to keep this one much shorter!

Well it's good news all round - firstly, our newly resident pair have just successfully hatched their 2nd brood

I spent some time last Friday evening and again early on Saturday morning watching the parents bringing in the tiny fish they feed to their new nestlings (as shown in part 1 of my 4th July update). However, within the next 2 -3 weeks they'll be back to catching and delivering the big stuff, as shown below -





The 2nd bit of good news is that during the last month or so the water level at the site has dropped to the lowest level I've ever seen, making fishing rather easier for the birds but also enabling me to wade over onto the island and to observe the birds from a hide spot I've cleared amongst the undergrowth on the opposite bank from the nesthole.

Finally, the last piece of good news is that within a half hour of my returning home from the site on Saturday morning and whilst I was having a cup of tea near one of our patio windows, one of the adult birds visited our garden pond and spent several minutes perched above it before making a failed dive for one of my fish and then flying off. As I mentioned in my last update, we hadn't seen any Kingfishers in the garden since the new pair took over the territory and after an absence of some 3 months it was great to see one back. The next evening and whilst I was out watching our local Barn Owls , my wife had the pleasure of seeing a further visit so I expect to see them in the garden on a regular basis again from now on.

Jeff

*****************************************
REMINDER
As a fairly rare and easily disturbed bird, the Kingfisher is afforded the highest degree of legal protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. If you “intentionally or recklessly” disturb a Kingfisher whilst trying to photograph it “in, on, at or near” the nest or whilst it has dependent young, and without the necessary Licence from Natural England, you may be committing a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 6 months.
******************************************

[pressld2]

Excellent Jeff! Good news all round and a couple more top-notch photos. Considering they swallow these fish whole they must have large throats and stomachs!

Any progress with the book? Some good news on that front would be the icing on the cake!

Dave P.