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When
it comes to photography I like nothing more than a challenge
and catching the kingfisher Alcedo atthis proved
to be exactly that. They are like greased lightning and
more difficult to photograph than otters! After a week of
trying to catch them, I got these shots on Thursday, 9th
February 2006 on the Wye at Wilton. They are not brilliant
because I could not get around the tree branches being in
the way. They will do for now however.
The
top three photos were taken by Wilton Castle and the bottom
one from the opposite bank, whilst the bird caught a fish
by the castle. The kingfisher has the fish in its beak.
I have the sequence of kingfisher catching fish photos but
have not published due to size of the bird and distance
across the river of these shots.
Although
they are quite difficult to spot, there are quite a few
kingfishers on the Wye at Ross and they regularly frequent
the river area by the White
Lion pub at Wilton, where they can be watched
from the garden or through the window during the winter
months.
The
kingfisher, which has a bright, electric blue and red plumage
and a long pointy beak, sits on a tree branch watching for
lunch to come swimming by then dives at virtually the speed
of light, catches the fish and returns to the tree, where
he stuns it and swallows it, head first. I am not sure if
he buys a 'day ticket' first - they are probably too fast
for the bailiff in any case.
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