Oh nice one, Gill!! My sides are aching....(your response to His Lordship! lmao!) Please would you do me the honour of accepting my offer of friendship? ;)
Well the treehouse has always been here from when I joined. I joined because I wanted to post my photos try to contribute and also the social side of it with the way everyone pulled together and encouraged each other to go out and enjoy the wildlife. I feel there is little I can contribute in a lot of the wildlife discussions as it can go right over my head at times but the treehouse covered all sorts.When you join a group in the real world they have the main stuff that you learn about but they also have a social side to it too.This is what I liked about the site that in the treehouse you could get an incite into other peoples lives and also learn about wildlife too without all the technicalities of the rest of the forums. I find a lot of interesting things in the wildlife forums but there are a lot that really don't press my buttons so I avoid them.I cannot see why others cannot do the same about the treehouse.Admittedly sometimes there is lot of rubbish in there and it needs sorting but it will be a sad day if it goes because I for one will lose interest. Wildlife is not the be all and end all of my life but a lovely diversion and the treehouse is where I can talk about other things not necessarily about my troubles but other things about myself and other interests. I found sometimes that there were recipes and things that were swapped and that did apply to the great outdoors too as we were using food that can be found and harvested.However tenuous the thread a lot of things still linked to getting out and about in our lovely countryside. I am afraid if it goes completely then the magic of the site will be gone for me. Talking in the treehouse was to me like chatting in a room full of people and feeling part of their lives and learning too.PMs and one on one doesnt work for me I like the crowd I am afraid. Stu could maybe stop it showing in the new posts so that those who want it can go there and those who don't like it can avoid it. There are some remarks on the thread that make me feel I am not wanted so it has already changed for the worse here.As some one else said the winter and the weather means there is not a lot about to photograph and talk about. Like others I feel that is why it is used so much at this time. I am sure that it will change once we are all out and about again.
Hi Gill, I'm afraid there are currently no books in print on Kingfishers. So far as I'm aware only 4 have been published in the UK in the last 40 years or so:-
1. 'The Kingfisher' by Rosemary (and Ron) Eastman - first published in 1969.
2. 'The Kingfisher' by David Boag - first published in 1982.
3. 'Kingfisher' by Paolo Fioratti - published in 1992.
4. 'Kingfishers' by Charlie Hamilton-James - published in 1997.
I was lucky enough to find copies of all 4 on the internet (eventually!) and if do a 'google' you may be able to find one or more of them.
As to territory size, the main determinants are the quantity of fish and availablity of suitable nest sites but it's generally considered that a typical river territory would be between 1 and 5 kilometres.
I hope thay helps.
Regards, Jeff
Thanks Gill. I've been so busy this past week or so it's been impossible to get on WAB but I just had to log in tonight to look at the "ghostly goings on video". It made me laugh and I needed that.