Closer to home

 Most of my recent posts have been about trips to parts distant in search of waifs and strays. I had the chance this weekend to do just that and head back up the A1 to Bempton for a green warbler. It is a very small bird, hiding in a large bush surrounded by twitchers and TBH it didn't float my boat. So, I decided to spend the morning at Maple Lodge instead pestering our local kingfisher.

The reserve has always been good for them, but over there last couple of years they have had successful breeding seasons and have been showing very well from a couple of the hides. Rotunda hide has been especially good and there'd been one of this years youngsters showing very well from there for a few weeks. I headed off after an early breakfast for the very short commute of about 5 minutes to the reserve - Bempton is about 3 hours or more! At that hour the reserve is empty so I had the hide to myself. As I walked in I could see the kingfisher was already showing on one of the branches we had put up for it outside the hide.It was pretty well hidden behind some overhanging vegetation. The advantage of this bird is that it really doesn't worry about people. I set up my camera on a tripod, banging around in the hide and moving benches, but it didn't move or fly off. It did wait about 5 minutes then flew to another nearby branch where it studied the water for a potential breakfast.

It worked out though that it wasn't very hungry. It started opening its beak and moving in a strange way. Just as owls cough up pellets, kingfishers do the same. They have to cough up the undigested bits of the fish they have eaten - bones, scales and the rest. This one did just that, the pellet appearing in its throat then being thrown out of its beak!

In the last photo you can see the pellet being hurled into the water below. It can't be pleasant to have to do that after every meal!!!!

It then spent a bit flying around the various perches and grooming itself and seeing if there was anything to eat in the water below.

Finally it saw something which attracted its attention. First it hovered over the pool 

then it dived in and came up with a small stickleback which it tossed around in its beak before swallowing it.

It was a great couple of hours, such a privilege to have one of the iconic birds of the British countryside being so confiding. Hopefully it will carry on being so kind to us!