It was a dull cloudy day and I thought it would be a good one to try out Kingfishers and flash photography. In fact it would have been impossible to get any kind of photo at all without the use of flash. So very early on, in fact just befor 9 I was ready and sat in the hide waiting for some action. Unfortunately this morning was a blank, who knows why, he just didn’t show. I did see the Grey Wagtail though, I hadn’t seen him for two days and I was wondering if he had moved on but thankfully, for me, no he is still here.

Home for lunch and a bit of domestics. I watched another young Hedgehog looking for food on the garden. I may consider intervention with these hedgehogs if I see them again. I am pretty sure that they will not survive the winter unaided, they are not in the least bit big enough in my opinion. I returned to the Brook at around 1.30. I have arranged a little basket submerged in the water in front of the upright perch/log and I couldn’t see how, if the Kingfisher settled on the log, he would be able to resist the free offerings of minnows in the basket. So, having got myself settled, I was starting to get just a bit bored. He suddenly appeared, yet again, right in front of me. He was no more than 10 feet away,probably nearer. I took some steady photos with flash hoping that he would not be phased by it….he wasn’t thankfully. In fact he couldn’t have cared less and quickly moved up to his log perch as you can see. He looked around him as I have watched him do before, obviously searching for something to catch and eat. Then he looked down and I knew he had seen the free offerings, I love it when a plan works! Within seconds he had launched an attack and emerged with a minnow which he quickly ate but not before I got this shot.

Then, he decided to do his preen, I watched him, really fascinated and entranced by his beauty. He did his diving to bathe thing where he splashed in and out of the water returning to a perch to clean himself off. Then I thought he had left but no, he quickly landed with this Newt which he swallowed very easily. This was a big surprise. I have now seen him with 4 different prey items, Minnow, Stickleback, Dragonfly Larvae and now a Common Newt. They are said to eat their own weight in prey every day and he does seem to be on the look out for food constantly. I was quite surprised that he ignored the minnows in the basket and went after the Newt instead

I probably missed a real opportunity for a great shot here but he settled on a branch obscured by another and it was really hard to get that great shot that I am craving. Here are the best of the rest before he left.


I decided to call it a day about 20 minutes later and as I emerged from the hide I was surprised to realise that he was perched just behind me and had been there all along. When he saw me he flashed down the stream following the contours and dodging the reeds and vegetation, swerving first left and then right.