On this day I decided on another visit to the Kingfisher location that has featured on three of my previous posts. It was a sunny afternoon, but I'd had other things to do so it was mid-afternoon when I arrived. Nothing of interest was visible from the first hide so I carried on to the second hide and sat there for a while, chatting to gentleman who had been there for quite a while and seen nothing.
After probably about an hour my companion declared that he would set off homeward, but call into the first hide on his way back. I stuck it out for perhaps another quarter of an hour before setting off myself as the sun was starting to go down and light conditions were getting a bit difficult. As I approached the first hide my earlier companion beckoned to me - he'd got a Kingfisher sitting on a post.
There are three posts in front of the hide and they are all just under 20 metres from the hide. The left-hand post is of medium height, the middle post is very short and is only just visible above the grass bank in front of the hide, and the right-hand post is tall. When I arrived, the Kingfisher (a female) was on top of the tall right-hand post. Sadly, with the sun now low and golden, this post was totally shaded by the nearby trees whilst the background was still in full golden sun. This presented an interesting photographic challenge which I partially manage to rise to.
 |
| Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (female) - Leicestershire |
She fished from this post for a while before heading down to the far end of the pond and disappearing from sight. For the next quarter of an hour we had fleeting glimpses before she returned in front of the hide, landing on the middle post, which was in sun. I eventually managed to find a spot in the hide from which, if I stood on tip-toe, I could get a shot without the bird being obscured by the intervening grass. With the golden light on her, the blue plumage took on a somewhat greener hue than I usually see.
 |
| Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (female) - Leicestershire |
Fortunately she only fished from this middle post for a short while, before moving to the left-hand post, which was also in sun, giving the greenish hue to her plumage.
 |
| Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (female) - Leicestershire |
After this she returned to the right-hand post before disappearing to the nearby brook.
 |
| Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (female) - Leicestershire |
It had been another spellbinding session in the presence of this wonderful bird. I think that this will be my last Kingfisher post - for this year at least!
Thank you for dropping by. I suspect that my next post might feature an alien!!
