Autumn kingfisher (Part 1)

It may sound a tad over the top, but I keep a spreadsheet of which bugs and birds I might find, including where and when. Looking at it a few weeks ago, I could see that kingfishers started showing well at a reserve in the first week of September last year. My husband was kind enough to drive me down on the first visit this year, when we had a pleasant few hours, but saw nothing other than a pair of cormorants in the distance.

We returned about a week later, when all I managed to photograph were a handful of black-headed gulls. It made a nice day out for us, but we were already into the beginning of October and I began to think it was too late.

Then, we had a very warm day in the second week of October and so we made the trip one last time. Just in case.

As soon as we entered the hide, we were asked to keep quiet because a male kingfisher was already perched not far away. I managed to get my gear out of the rucksack in time to take a series of images and the bird returned a couple more times before we had to leave.

I actually have far too many to include in one post, so I will publish a second part in a day or two.

The next two show the kingfisher dealing with a tiny spider.

These are the last two for today.