I am not giving up on my quest for a "special Kingfisher photo" so when the alarm went on my clock at 7, I didn't exactly leap out of bed. But I was up and out of the house in time to be at the hide ready and waiting before the Kingfisher put in his appearance at exactly 8.03! Far,far too early for anything like a photo, it is just too dim and dull on a January morning  9 minutes before the actual sunrise. As well as that it wasn't a good day for it either. It was very windy to say the least, the fabric of the hide was flapping wildly and even though this didn't appear to be putting him off, well it wasn't pleasant. He was perched behind me on another of his favourite perches, a dead dock stalk. It is not really in an area worth photographing, it's very dull and tucked under the bank. So I just watched him. He was in hunting mode for sure, scanning the water very intently. After a while something disturbed him and off he went down stream and he never did come back today. My hide continued to flap and by 9 I was back home eating breakfast and hoping that I am going to get more chances. In the early afternoon I went back with a 'repair kit", well a few cable ties. I re-attached the flapping tarp  and inserted a few more poles to anchor everything down a bit. I used washed up branches shoved in the mud behind to try and create a wind break and I am confident that a good job has been done. 

I thought that today was going to be a total write off wildlife wise, but in my world something always crops up. I have had half an apple suspended from my cotoneaster bush since well before Christmas and was beginning to wonder why it hadn't been touched. So yesterday I was pleased when I saw that something had been feeding on it and well and truly had a feast. I assumed it was a Redwing, so image my pleasure when at lunchtime, a lovely bold Blackcap was dining on this free offering. Of course I managed to get a photo from upstairs and as you can see above he is a splendid little bird, as fit as a fiddle and not suffering one little bit from the last 2 weeks of freezing temperatures. I wonder if he wishes he had continued on his migration this year and spent Christmas and New Year on the Costas like many of his contemporaries.

So why hadn't the apple been touched before? Here is my theory. The apple was by now very soft and smelling the way that slightly rotten fruit  does. I imagine that in this soft state it is more palatable and easier to eat. This is born out by the presence of other newer pieces of apple that are, as yet untouched. He definitely prefers the older,over ripe fruit.