Photographer captures rare sight, Kingfisher's mating (UK)

[Donna]

Kingfishers are usually seen, if at all, as a fleeting blue flash.

To actually capture them mating? Well, that took a patient five weeks of watching from a hide alongside the River Severn in Worcestershire.

Photographer Mark Hancox, 48, said he felt “very lucky� to have captured the amorous action from just eight metres away.

“I set up perches to lure them in — but I was only looking for pictures of kingfishers, I wasn’t expecting to see two of them mating,� he said.
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“The average man in the street will probably never see one kingfisher — let alone two, even if you’re looking for them.�

The RSPB said the pictures were very encouraging.

Grahame Madge, its spokesman said: “After the devastatingly hard winter, the sight of mating kingfishers is a huge relief that at least some of our birds have made it through the worst winter for birds in nearly three decades.

“Following severe winters, such as the one in 1962-3, almost 9 out of 10 of our kingfishers died because of the freezing conditions and a shortage of food.

“This picture provides hope that it might not be too long before kingfisher populations bounce back to the point where Britain’s most beautiful bird once more occupies its rightful status as king of the fishers.�

Last year, it was estimated there were between 3,300 and 5,000 pairs of kingfisher in Britain.

[valhalla]

Beautiful!

[MAK]

Love their coloring.