We must have walked around Verulamium Park in St Albans hundreds of times, dodging the swans, geese and marauding hordes of small children as we make our way around the lake and along the banks of the River Ver. During that time, we’ve gone out of our way to try and spot kingfishers on our regular trips hiking through the countryside of southern England, always on the look-out for the tell-tale flash of electric blue flying low over a riverbank.
It was a pleasant surprise to discover that a pair of kingfishers had taken up residence in our local park, barely 5 minutes walk from our house. Having spotted them in the middle of the January (it turns out they’ve been here since Christmas), we’ve made several trips down to watch their antics along the river; they seem to attract a regular crowd. January has not been the sunniest of months and with a lack of decent light it’s been a challenge to take photos at the fast speeds required to get these lightning-quick hunters in any sort of clarity. The grainy nature of some of these photos is evidence of the difficulty in catching them at their best.
Hopefully they’ll make the park their long-term home and will provide us with plenty of opportunities to get sharper photos as the weather (eventually) improves.
Sitting pretty
I spy with my little eye… my next meal
Going in for the kill
Watching the crowds watching her
Flying back to the perch after another successful fishing trip
For some reason I think she’d look better with glasses on
Never talk with your mouth full
Too fast for me – Kingfisher in a blur
Update: More photos of the kingfishers can be seen in this second post from 11th March.
What amazing photos – I hope they’re still there when I next go back down – we were there on Saturday but didn’t make it to the river as were playing in puddles