I had a brain wave today. A plan was hatched to continue with my quest for better Kingfisher photos. As well as photographing him, it's just great to see a Kingfisher and I have to confess that it gives me such an immense feeling of satisfaction and pleasure whenever he is there just a few feet from me. Today I almost laughed to myself because I kept repeating that phrase, "I love it when a plan comes together"!

Knowing that it was far too flooded to get in the hide, I remembered that when I had seen him yesterday he had flashed by with a fish and definitely made "Bee-line' for the branch by the hide. Unfortunately it was under water so he continued to the concrete area where he had the necessary hard surface needed to deal with his prey. Today, I planned to place another branch above the water line and literally sit under a camo cover with the camera focused on the branch and just see what happened. When I arrived, and don't forget this location is just a 2 minute drive from my house, his favourite branch had risen above the flood, the water had gone down  a foot or so. I got myself organised under the cover, sat on the mud on a ground sheet and focused in on the perch. Within minutes, honestly, there he was. I couldn't  see the perch except through the viewfinder of the camera and it was one of those magical moments when, one second all I could see was a branch and water and then suddenly, and without warning , now a Kingfisher, a fish, a branch and water. It is thrilling to say the least. The bird was only 6 feet in front of me in good light and beating the living daylights out of a stickleback. Real nature, real life and all so beautiful, and like I said, minutes from home.

 
 I took a few photos and hoped for the best which is not really the proper way to go about things. So, I calmed down, thought things through and adjusted the camera to the prevailing conditions. But there is only so much time before he finished his fish and flew off to find more. I waited for his return for half an hour, but decided that it wasn't going to happen. 

As I waited, a pair of Pied Wagtails – Motacilla alba yarellii were feeding to my left and got closer and closer and closer. I took lots of photos and one or two turned out to be really good. Again another example of the subterfuge of the hide/camo cover really working well.

Although much more common than the Grey Wagtail – Motacilla cinerea , I havn't really managed good photos of Pied Wagtails before but I think I did well today. In the picture below the "waggy" seems to have a liitle insect or spider, or perhaps a seed.

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