There were 2 volunteer wardens (VWs) standing just by the car park welcome board, swapping notes of sightings, awash with the rays of the late autumn sun when suddenly ...... there was a flash of brown darting from the heronry corner towards the play meadow and over to the small pools.
What was that. Was it a wren – it was so small.
It can't be a wren - they don't fly that fast. It was a kingfisher
But there was no blue streak – just a flash of brown.
You only see a blue flash when a kingfisher flies below your eyeline – because it's blue on the top. If it flies above the eye level then we see an orangey-brown blob, the underbody colours. It's great camouflage – it could be a leaf, blown in the wind. Any watching bird of prey would ignore it and then the kingfisher gets to reach its fishing ground.