This morning was  a strange session. I go there at around 10, I expected to have him with me quickly as has been the case this past three days, but no! Where was he? I decided at around 1050 that I would stick it out until 1130 because it was quite a cold morning and to be frank, my feet were freezing in the cold muddy water. My mind wandered and I was getting despondent, but at 1120  there he was, right there in his usual showy place, in great light and with a nice fish…… a Nine Spine Stickleback, his usual fare. He ate it and then bathed a little and I tried to get shots of him doing that, but not successfully. Then, off he went and came back very quickly with a Bullhead (above), it was almost too big for him. He struggled and struggled to get it down and  dropped it in the mud beneath. As you can see, there is mud on the fish in the photo. I was almost successful in getting a flight photo but not really A1.

I have told you before that he beats his prey soundly before trying to swallow it. So imagine my surprise to see him with what I thought at first was a fish and then I realised…….. but apparently he didn't……. that it was in fact, a nice little stick. Fish size I agree but he ate it anyway. Surely that can't do him much good.

My last photo illustrates the iridescent  qualities of a Kingfishers plumage, look how the colour varies depending on the light, it's strength and source. Above he is a turquoise colour and below he is positively blue.