Kingfishers at Rye Meads Update

3rd July 2019

The second brood of Kingfishers at Rye Meads hatched on the 22nd June, so time for a visit to see how they are getting on. The adults are coming in with food every 45 minutes or so, therefore time for a look round to see what else was going on. There are some large carp in the pond and these can often be seen cruising around feeding a bit like Basking Sharks with their mouth wide open and sucking in any algae that gets in the way.

A bit quiet on the dragonfly front apart from a Brown Hawker that kept quartering the pond on its unique cinnamon wings. But then a little later another brown hawker, but this time with clear wings. I immediately knew what it was , but luckily it landed allowing me to confirm it as a Norfolk Hawker. Norfolk Hawkers have only appeared in Herts in the last couple of years and this was my first for Rye Meads.

So what about the Kingfishers? Well, the female spends a lot of her time hidden in the bushes to the left of the hide waiting for the male to bring her a fish. However, if he is late arriving she will leave the pool to catch a fish for the youngsters, which are expected to fledge on the 16th/17th July.

The first and second broods were both reared in the same hole to the left of the Kingfisher bank, but although they are still feeding the second brood they are already preparing a second hole in the middle top of the bank for the third brood.

Photographing the Kingfishers on the far post or along the left-hand side is tricky, so here is a selection of shots of the male on the middle post.