I haven't had much time to get out this week what with the weather and a few gardening jobs to see to. Today was my chance to remedy this, so when I saw the rain this morning I was not a happy chappie. That is until I looked out of the kitchen window at about 9 o'clock and saw this ray of sunshine sitting by my pond. The pictures were taken through rain streaked patio doors and the light was rubbish but what a great way to brighten up a dismal morning.
There has been quite a bit of Kingfisher activity around the lake this week with two birds calling excitedly and on occasions flying over the garden and once even over the top of the house. I wondered if these might be newly fledged birds although this does fit the adult courtship behaviour, maybe a prelude to a second brood hopefully.
The picture above leads me to think that it's a young bird; the chest looks slightly mottled, the feet are not bright red as in adults and the bill looks slightly short to me. If it is it will soon be on it's way, as they become independent a few days after fledging and then face the most dangerous time of their lives learning to dive and feed, young birds can become waterlogged and drown or die of starvation if they don't get it right. If it helps, this one can practice in my pond anytime it likes!
Other garden news today is the fledging, at last, of the Blue Tit family from our nest box down the garden. What a day to choose, they were probably just fed up of waiting for a decent day to arrive. Just like me in fact!
6 comments:
Nice one phil! I still await such an event in my tiny ponds :-)
Phil ,
The white tip to the bill identifies your bird as a juvenile , according to Springwatch and Halcyon River Diaries .
Great set of shots , and nice pond too .
What a great garden tick. Don't forget to report it as proof of breeding.
What an amazing bird to see in your garden - nice one Phil.
Congrats on that one Phil, I see it's trying the paddling pool first.
Oh WOW! What a treat to have in your garden. I have been looking in all the likely places for the last twelve months but I still can't find one and to have one in the garden....well! That's really brilliant, Phil well done.
So sorry to have missed your last post, it has been a hectic week with preparations for a family wedding which took place yesterday so blogging got slightly sidelined :( I did love the photo of the Whitethroat with the damsel or dragon though. Also thank you very much for the mention and link... much appreciated :)
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