A Couple of Hours with the Local Kingfisher

27th January 2022

In Hertford we are lucky to have a network of rivers and streams and therefore Kingfishers are reasonably common, but not always easy to see. To many it is just a "flash of blue". But this week one of the birds has returned to one of its favourite fishing spots so time to go down and have a look.

This particular bird is a male because the lower mandible is entirely black, whereas the female has some orange or lipstick at the base of the lower mandible. It is so intent on fishing that it is largely unaware of the people passing by and here are some of the photos I was able to take.

Here it has spotted a fish as is preparing to dive into the water.

After successfully catching the fish it emerges from the water and flies back to its perch.

The fish is a Bullhead which is quite common in the rivers here, and on the second photo, never mind the Kingfisher, just look at the pattern on the Bullhead!!

Then the Kingfisher smashes it on the branch to subdue it so that it can swallow it head-first to avoid the spines.

What an amazing two hours!!!