An Hour with the Kingfisher at Abberton Reservoir

16th August 2025

When I arrived at the Layer Breton causeway at 3 pm there was a small group of people gathered by the weir peering into the trees, so hopefully a Kingfisher was on show. There was indeed a Kingfisher there but mostly flitting around in the trees and obscured for most of the time. It then flew the full length of the causeway to the north-east corner where it was perching in some dead trees overhanging the water which made photography a little easier.

Here are some shots of it perched. 

And this is why people say that all they saw was a flash of blue, as the entire back and rump is an iridescent turquoise.

And now for a few action shots.

And then it managed to catch a fish. You will notice that instead of catching the fish in its bill it has speared it, so no idea how it is going to eat that!!!

At one point there were two birds present. One is definitely a juvenile with an all-black bill and white tip, brown feet and a darker breast band. It is not possible to sex juveniles at this time of year as initially all have all-black bills. The 9th photo or 3rd from the end is an adult male with orange feet, an all-black bill and an all-orange underside and breast.

What a great way to spend an hour!!!!