As I am not very mobile I can't walk long distances or in awkward places. So yesterday inthe the local park I was delighted to see a kingfisher. i was walking next to the stream alongside the ponds when I suddenly saw a flash of brilliant turquoise blue. I stopped and spotted in the distance a small hump sitting on the reeds- it took off again as I approached and I saw it was a kingfisher. We walked very slowly towards it until I was able to see the distinctive beak shape and chestnut front as well as the brilliant wings. As I watched, it dived into the water with a rather ungainly splosh and flew off with something in it's beak. This is the first one I've seen since I moved to Wiltshire. As always I was struck by the small size of the bird.
You should try that route again, they tend to keep to territories. The best way of spotting them is by their flight pattern. I find it is a very distinctive looping flight low across the water.
Living by the water and having a pond in the garden we have a kingfisher as a regular visitor, but it always excites me to see them. they dard up and down the river under the railings of our brodge and I have even seen them sitting an the stone balls on our pond eying up the fish. Hope you see it again Liz, such a wonderful bird.
Got an email from Youngest yesterday as she walked along the river to her friends, she has seen another kingfisher, that's 2 in 6 months! I've seen 1 in my whole life, I'm going with her next time, she even had time to look at it closely
Im the same with Jays they are so beautiful,but even living within a woods with a stream ive only ever seen 2,yet my friend in london seems to have more wildlife than i do
We used to see kingfishers along the canalside from Kings Langley towards Tring Reservoirs - they were quite common there. Like you, Liz, I was surprised at how smal they are. We're so used to seeing those glorious pictures in magazines and calendars, that we have not idea of size, and assume them to be much bigger. Jays - I've seen a few in Hemel, and since we moved up here, I've seen some in the woods, as well as a greater spotted woodpecker (and one of its feathers on the ground, with dots!) We do quite well fr wildlife here - and the foxes here are magnificent creatures, a glorious red, sleek and well-fed (it's all those rabbits we have here!!) Mr D has seen one sitting in a field, presumable full up, as there were rabbits all around, not bothered by him! :D
I had a kingfisher visit my garden pond on a few occasions some years back, usually during frosty weather when, I presume, fish were hard to come by. A bit of useless info, I believe they are related to the cookaburra of Austrailia, there is a resemblance when you see them side by side. Of course our Kingfisher is much more colourful. :D
We used to have one on the stream at the bottom of the garden. i noticed that he or she tended to sit at the top of the bank looking for fish, and one day i spotted a cat stalking it from behind. So I got a few stems of broken willow and rammed them into the bank at an angle so it could perch and overlook the stream while looking for minnows and sticklebacks....and it used them as well. Might be useful to put in if you want to get a photo - it means you can put the bird where you want it...and it benefits the kingfisher as well.
