Kingfishers

[rowanwitch]

Sutton park yesterday sitting looking over Blackroot pool, mentioned to Redman that it looked a good spot for kingfishers.. a few minutes later wonderful sightings of two one flying past us into the woods and another darting out over the water banking so the brilliant colours flashed in the sun

the second one showed again with a short flight along the bank a few minutes later. common ish birds but a sight guaranteed to lift the spirits

[ladybirder]

Yes, nice to hear some birds are doing well. Beautiful.

[chaptazbru]

We have them on the smelly old River Mersey near me, don't see them very often, but always a treat when we do. Like little jewels skimming across the water.

[boxtops]

A long time since I've seen one, but I'm always surprised how tiny they are.

[sandyRoe]

A Jay came to the garden once and tore open a net of peanuts. They're probably not rare but it was the first I'd seen.

[woofgang]

Jays aren't rare but they are very shy so seeing one is quite an occurence.

[FredPuli43]

4,800 pairs of breeding kingfishers, 160,000 'territories' of breeding pairs of jays (RSPB), so jays are far more common over all, but nearly as hard to see. Jays plant a lot of our oak trees, since they bury acorns and sometimes don't find them again; there's a mysterious young oak in this garden, growing in a bed, that must have been planted by one as there's no other oak for two hundred metres.

Not seen a kingfisher for a while. You must have great patience and stillness, or a lot of kigfishers, rowan ! Water quality is improving in our rivers; we have native crayfish in ours (the Granta, near Cambridge) and far more fish than we used to have; so it may be that kingfishers are on the increase.

[ladybirder]

Fred I used to see them regularly on the Somerset levels whilst walking my dog. I wasn't sitting still and I wasn't particularly looking out for them although I always keep my eyes tuned to any birds about. Some days, walking along the river bank I would see two or even three. Perhaps I was lucky. I know they are doing well in the South here but still have Amber status in Europe according to the RSPB. A flash of bright colour and then they're gone. Beautiful things.