Kingfisher --- Tick!

And so on Thursday we headed back out to the RSPB Reserve of Strumpshaw Fen.

Another beautiful nature reserve worth a visit.

We had been told the Kingfishers we quite active, so we were hopeful of catching a sight of that dart of blue.

We sat in a hide, which had prime Kingfisher tree stumps right outside. Nothing for the best part of an hour. And then, one flitted on to the branch ... just as some bloke clattered into the hide carrying a ridiculous amount of tripods and optics, the Kingfisher fled, after several icy stares, the tripod man did as well!

I had seen one, I was happy, but a little disappointed in not getting a photo.

At half four we wandered back to the reception hide, where we got talking to the volunteer on duty. Suddenly, there was the tell tale flash of blue outside, and then another! My Kingfisher count doubled in a few seconds!!!

I know it is a bit fuzzy, and a bit out of focus, but it was on the limits of the range of my lens ... but I got one .. I got a Kingfisher photo ... now the challenge is to get a better one!