Who has seen a kingfisher?

[redsturgeon]

Yesterday on one of my daily dog walks along the water meadows I met a chap carrying a camera with the longest lens I have seen, it must have been close to 18 inches. He must be a bird spotter I mused and this was verified when I engaged him in conversation.

I asked him if he had seen anything interesting that day and he said not, so I raised the subject of kingfishers. I have seen a few bird spotter types over the years walking these meadows and they have often told me of the kingfishers they have seen.

Now I have been walking these water meadows everyday for nearly 20 years and I told him I had never seen one of these beautiful but elusive birds. He replied that they were often to be seen at this very spot. I said I would keep my eyes open in future.

So today at that very spot this is what I saw. Apologies for the small size and poor quality but I was not in possession of the same level of equipment that the chap was carrying yesterday!

[Breelander]

Yesterday on one of my daily dog walks along the water meadows I met a chap carrying a camera with the longest lens I have seen, it must have been close to 18 inches. He must be a bird spotter I mused and this was verified when I engaged him in conversation.

I asked him if he had seen anything interesting that day and he said not, so I raised the subject of kingfishers. I have seen a few bird spotter types over the years walking these meadows and they have often told me of the kingfishers they have seen.

Now I have been walking these water meadows everyday for nearly 20 years and I told him I had never seen one of these beautiful but elusive birds. He replied that they were often to be seen at this very spot. I said I would keep my eyes open in future.

So today at that very spot this is what I saw. Apologies for the small size and poor quality but I was not in possession of the same level of equipment that the chap was carrying yesterday!

My favourite bird!

I have been lucky enough to see one a couple of times.

[swill453]

Funnily enough I took a photo of one locally just yesterday. There's a lade (leat, leet, millstream) off the town river which has a resident kingfisher, that I've seen a few times.



Again just a phone picture.

Scott.

[DrFfybes]

Wow - apparently there are a few around the local Brook.

MrsF has seen them, and an otter. I've managed several squirrels and 1 rat.

Paul

[Dicky99]

Yesterday on one of my daily dog walks along the water meadows I met a chap carrying a camera with the longest lens I have seen, it must have been close to 18 inches. He must be a bird spotter I mused and this was verified when I engaged him in conversation.

I asked him if he had seen anything interesting that day and he said not, so I raised the subject of kingfishers. I have seen a few bird spotter types over the years walking these meadows and they have often told me of the kingfishers they have seen.

Now I have been walking these water meadows everyday for nearly 20 years and I told him I had never seen one of these beautiful but elusive birds. He replied that they were often to be seen at this very spot. I said I would keep my eyes open in future.

So today at that very spot this is what I saw. Apologies for the small size and poor quality but I was not in possession of the same level of equipment that the chap was carrying yesterday!

One of life's great pleasures. I sometimes see one walking by the river chess at it always feels like a privilege.

[Stompa]

Some years ago I saw a concert along the Backs in Cambridge, a choir were performing from punts on the river. IIRC I was viewing from Clare College bridge. Throughout the entire concert a kingfisher spent it's time flitting back and forth across the river. I'm not sure if it was a music lover, or simply peeved at being disturbed! That's the only one I've ever seen.

[JohnB]

3-4 times. Twice on a stream in Zone 6 London

[bungeejumper]

The last time we saw a kingfisher was the day my sister in law died. Inside the hospice, things were clearly moving toward the stage when they'd soon need to step up the morphine, and we hadn't slept properly for a couple of nights, and we were just about all in. The medical supervisor suggested that we should give ourselves a break by walking out through the grounds to the nearby river. And that was where we saw this brilliant bird, barely ten yards away - not just sitting on a fishing branch above the river, but dipping and returning again and again. Absolutely captivating.

When we returned to the hospice, sis in law was not conscious, and she didn't open her eyes again. I suppose they'd turned up the morphine, and we were glad that they had. But the most remarkable thing was that sis in law had worked for many years as a wildlife conservation volunteer, patrolling her local rivers almost until the end, in search of trout and otter spraint and dragonflies and suchlike. And it was quite hard to resist the thought that she might just have had a hand in organising that kingfisher for us?

Sad, superstitious things that we are, we didn't even try.

BJ

[Arborbridge]

Congratulations on the pix in this thread - kingfishers are so difficult to photograph and those results are unusual.

I've only seen two. One along the river near Chilworth in Surrey, and there was one who lived in our marina for a while in Sussex.

Arb.

[Gerry557]

You can often spot them if you know where. Obviously if you are in town with no rivers it's not the right spot.

Probably go unnoticed by most people even when they are.

Probably the same with butterflies. Some will say they have seen one but not many will be able to say what sort it was.

I remember reading about an extinct beetle that was re-found. I spotted the picture and said to colleagues that I have been observing the same sort of thing at the weekend. Anyway I went back to see if I could find more of these so called oil beetles. We used to have 8 sorts but now only 5 remain. I managed to spot 3 different versions once I educated myself and knew where to look.

Probably get trampled on these days either by accident but sometimes just cos their ugly. I don't think kingfishers eat them though.

[Bminusrob]

I've seen a few kingfishers. The first time, I was walking on the Kennet and Avon Canal when I saw this amazing bright orange bird fly past me. It wasn't until it flew back the other way that I saw the classinc electric blue, and realised what it was. Since then, I have seen kingfishers several times, most often on the K&A, either between bridges 99 and 100 (near Crofton Lock), or in the winding hole just east of the A338 in Hungerford.

[tjh290633]

The first one I saw was in China, at the hot springs outside Xian. Then about 20 years ago, we were staying near Hever in Kent and I often went to Bough Beech Reservoir to do a bit of Bird Watching, in January. A Kingfisher was flying along the length of the dam and occasionally feeding in the reservoir. I watched him for about half an hour. No pictures, though.

TJH

[Nimrod103]

I saw one a few years back on one of the Medway tributaries.
I read recently that they have been predated by minks. Hopefully as minks are exterminated, kingfishers might make a comeback in more places.

[TUK020]

See one several times a year while canoeing on the Basingstoke Canal.
Often when you disturb one, they fly away 100m further up the canal, then you disturb them again, so you actually get 4-5 encounters on each episode.
When this happens, paddle slowly, and when you spot it just drift forwards. Kingfishers are pretty wary. Herons, you can get within 6-10 feet using this technique (but they are also easier to spot when you are approaching them).

The other thing that the Basingstoke canal is great for is the profusion of Dragonflies and Damselflies. Of the 40 species known in the UK, 29 are present on the canal. While you are out paddling, these often come up and hover while inspecting you. It takes them a while to decide you are probably a bit big for them to eat

[scotview]

I've seen a few when salmon fishing on the rivers Dee and Deveron but they were just a flash of blue. I've never managed to photograph one, so very well done.

[servodude]

I saw one as a teen on a day trip to Pitlocry
Their big Australian cousins though are pretty common (and often quite tame... or stupid/damaged from diving in to the ground?!)

halcyon days

-sd

[staffordian]

I saw one in 1973.

I recall the year clearly as I'd just started uni. It was only for a fleeting moment but it was unmistakably a kingfisher. The location was less than a mile from the town centre of Loughborough, but where a stream formed the central reservation of a short length of dual carriageway. I walked past the same place most days for a couple of years and never again saw one there, and actually didn't see another until the last few years.

We currently live on the edge of an urban area but with a nearby lake and several greenways with ponds alongside, created from disused railway lines and in this area there is at least one pair of birds living nearby, which I have seen several times, either perched on a branch near the water or flying low over the lake.

In the latter case, it is more a case of realising after the event what I've just seen as they seem to fly so quicky.

Truly beautiful and elusive birds!

[UncleEbenezer]

I've yet to see one on the river outside. But my wildlife-loving neighbour has: she's been watching two of them, probably a couple. She has the advantage of a viewing platform right by the river, down a couple of steps from her kitchen to a level that's probably underwater when the river's in spate, while all I have is a balcony much higher up.

[didds]

I've seen a few kingfishers. The first time, I was walking on the Kennet and Avon Canal when I saw this amazing bright orange bird fly past me. It wasn't until it flew back the other way that I saw the classinc electric blue, and realised what it was. Since then, I have seen kingfishers several times, most often on the K&A, either between bridges 99 and 100 (near Crofton Lock), or in the winding hole just east of the A338 in Hungerford.

we often see them up at Devizes on the K&A

[dionaeamuscipula]

I saw one as a teen on a day trip to Pitlocry
Their big Australian cousins though are pretty common (and often quite tame... or stupid/damaged from diving in to the ground?!)

halcyon days

-sd

Last one I saw in the UK was flying down the middle of the road outside our kids' school. Suburban but not far from a number of water features. The species I'd never seen until recently in our area is Egrets, there are now at least 3 or 4 around what seems to be permanently.

As to the big Aussie cousins, most memorably we were sitting in an outdoors restaurant and one of our neighbours had a hot chip taken out of her hand by a swooping snaffler. Oh how they must laugh at their impishness.

DM