Kingfishers at Rye Meads

20th July 2021

My first trip to Rye Meads for over a year and interested to see how the Kingfishers are getting on, but first stop was the Draper Hide. A bit quiet here as the water levels are still high and therefore everything distant but all the usual suspects especially the Stock Doves of which there were double figures.

I just love it when they land vertically and suspect they might have been the inspiration behind the Harrier jump-jet.

Also plenty of juvenile Black-headed Gulls now that they have ousted the Common Terns from the tern rafts.

Just a single humbug Little Grebe present with one of the adults collecting food which looks like a sizeable dragonfly nymph.

Here the juvenile is taking part in the Little Grebe Running On Water Olympics.

Plenty of action amongst the Gadwall, with one pair flying low over the very still pool.

The Common Terns are only just starting to nest because of the Black-headed Gulls hogging the rafts although there were a couple of chicks present.

Here one of the adults was enjoying a bath.

Apart from a couple of Lapwings and a single Black-tailed Godwit which stayed mainly hidden on the far side for much of the time, the only wader that was reasonably close was this Common Sandpiper, hopefully the first of many.

On the way to the Kingfisher Hide a Jay on the path was a pleasant surprise. I suspect it was a young bird as it looked very fresh and didn't seem too bothered about my presence.

I am not aware how the Kingfishers have fared earlier in the year due to the reserve being closed due to Covid, but I do know that at some stage the male disappeared for whatever reason. However another male has now paired up with the female and they are currently sitting on eggs.

When I arrived the female was in the nest and after about an hour flew out and landed on one of the perches. She had obviously being doing some house-keeping in the burrow as the tip of her bill was covered in sand.

She then dived into the water to get rid of the sand, followed by a shake to dry herself.

At that point the male flew in and at that point I left them to it.

Sad to hear about the disappearance of the male, but good to know that once again a pair is using the bank, and we look forward to seeing some youngsters some time in the future.