Alcedo athis x

There is a good chance that this is a different young male than the usual one from the last few days. This one just seemed to be a little bit more "flighty" than before and didn't seem to act in the same way.  It could be that I have regularly been seeing different males?  This morning though I did have a visit from a new bird a female.  It was a young bird, probably the sister of the male or males that I have been seeing. My usual method this last few days has been to sit in the hide with a magazine or my ipad loaded with the daily paper and kill the time by reading.  Every few minutes though, I glance in the direction of the perch to make sure that I am not missing any Kingfishers.  Well this morning, I started to get a bit too engrssed in  my reading, suddenly  there was a splash and on the perch was a Kingfisher.  I wasn't too impressed, it looked a relatively dull bird and immediately I could see that it was a young female.  I have never thought before that females were any less bright than males so this in itself was a surprise. I took photographs which were not too impressive.  She was flighty and not knowing the territory like the usual male, she constantly looked around nervously and it wasn't too long before she flew off up stream.  I didn't manage to get a picture, that was good enough to post.  

Knowing that the young male hadn't arrived yet, I sat and waited for him to show and I didn't have to wait too long, just 5 minutes or so.  There he was, makedly brighter than the female before  a real jewel as the sun picked out the colours.  This bird was also in hunting mode and dived in which I almost got good photos of but nothing to match yesterday in that department.  At one point though, wierdly it flashed it's wings just as I pressd the shutter.

4 responses to “Now, two Kingfishers.”

  1. I really like this picture Charlie, to me you have captured the essence of this beautiful bird.

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  2. Stunning shot!!

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  3. Hi Charlie,
    I have just spent an hour engrossed in your stunning photographs of kingfishers and of course other birds. Love the blog and I will follow it regularly. Having known you for a few years now i am aware of your passion for all things with wings. I love the fact that not only can you take a great photo but you can also paint the same pic beautifully. I am fortunate to have some original Charlie Fleming pics. I remember well a picture you did in the Bahamas of a Humming bird feeding in a Hibiscus flower, it was just beautiful, great skills mate. As ever your mate.
    Dan

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  4. Hello Dan,
    I had a manly tear in my eye when I read this Dan. I well remember the painting and the great times we shared on the Royal Yacht Britannia Dan. What great times we had. I don’t think we appreciated how special it was and how utterly privileged we were. Hand picked and selected for the best job in the world, we just took it for granted didn’t we. So many wonderful places to see and amazing things to do and all with really special people like yourself. My time on the Royal Yacht shaped my life and made me what I am now , basically someone who has been searching for a repeat of those fabulous times ever since. If I had the chance I would do it all again and this time I would try and take it in. I would stand back and smell the flowers.

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