Our last trip was to see how the Rye Meads Kingfishers were getting on, but today was with the true professionals from a photographic point of view, the Kingfishers at Lackford Lakes. We arrived at Bernard's Hide at 9.30am and it was already full of photographers with standing room only, but luckily I was able to get a front row seat after about a half an hour. So now it was just a matter of waiting!!
It was fairly quiet for a while with only juvenile Black-headed Gulls and a Little Egret to keep you occupied.
Shoveler and Teal were all looking their best in advance of the breeding season, but the unexpected visitor was this Snipe that was feeding in the margins.
So now on to the business in hand, and we didn't have to wait too long before a Kingfisher landed just six yards outside the hide. This time it was the male, which has a completely black lower mandible.
The female has orange on the lower mandible.
When people say that they saw a Kingfisher and it was just a flash of blue, it is this metallic turquoise blue that they are seeing.
When Kingfishers catch fish they are still alive. They need to turn them round head-first befor they can swallow them. But if they are too wriggly and won't cooperate, they turn their head and smash them on the branch to "subdue" them.
Then, when suitably subdued and turned round head-first they are swallowed.
It is very noticeable on this shot that the male has already turned the fish round before offering it to the female.
Lackford Lakes must be the the top spot for photographing Kingfishers in the UK by far and I would thoroughly recommend a visit provided you get up at 5.00am or are prepared to wait for a front-row seat.
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