"Eyes Left Tufty" said Halcyon

After a false start yesterday, spring is truly here. :)

I had a walk around the RSPB Rye Meads nature reserve and saw brimstone, peacock and tortoiseshell butterflies on the wing and shot a blackcap and a chiff-chaff.

When I got my first ever photographs of kingfishers a few weeks ago, a male and female were choosing a hole in the bank. No sign of her today, my pic shows the male, identified by his completely black beak. A female tufted duck is behind him. I was quite fortunate to get a pic this morning, the wind was strong and I have been told that kingfishers are not very active in blustery conditions.

The Halcyon is a bird of Greek legend and the name is now commonly given to the European Kingfisher. The ancients believed that the bird made a floating nest in the Aegean Sea and had the power to calm the waves while brooding her eggs.