What a day today has been for me, I am obsessed with Kingfishers, (or should I say Common Kingfisher – Alcedo athis to be accurate).  This afternoon the weather wasn't perfect but it was reasonably bright and to be honest, even though I had seen a Kingfisher momentarily last evening, I wasn't really expecting one today, they have been so hard to see just lately. I was in the hide  for only minutes when a constant stream of nice House Sparrows came and went and I amused myself by trying to photograph them in flight, just at the point of landing. It's hard but good fun and challenging. After a while it went a bit quiet and as is normal, if you have spent an hour or more in a little tent, my concentration was beginning to waver a bit. Then……. wow….. wow ….wow……. there she was!  A Kingfisher, perched on the new branch that I had brought from Dartmoor only last evening. After just a second I realised that it wasn't my favourite male, the attention of all my focus for the last 8 months. It was a new baby female! (another wow). She was beautiful and very scared, or that's the way it seemed. When the sparrows flew in she would duck her head and she looked as though she was uncertain as to what her reactions should be. She was just a few feet in front of me, perhaps just 3 or 4. I stopped photographing her and just gazed at her in admiration and awe. That often over used word that no self respecting Englishman would ever use "awesome" would have been OK in this situation. What a beauty. She was content and seemed to be fishing, and yes I was right because eventually, after about 15 minutes, she dived in and came out with a fish of some sort which she ate and then dived, unsuccessfully for another and then she was gone!!!!! 

I rushed home and as quickly as I could, waded through the 333 pictures and selected 20 or so of the best, quite a feat in it's self but amazing to see her now on my screen. Then after tea I returned for that glorious golden light part of the day and filmed her again at 7.40 when she caught a stickleback and had trouble getting it down because it had stuck in to her beak! It has occurred to me that if the male, who is  the custodian of this territory comes back and finds her here, then all hell will break out and he will certainly try to at the very least chase her away and at worst drown her!!!!  He is going to be a very  unhappy and aggressive Kingfisher.  They are extremely territorial and will even drown their own young within 7 days of them leaving the nest if they remain in their parents space.