Morning all,

How are you?

Quick update on the two pairs of kingfishers!

  Lovely picture of one of the Rye Meads kingfishers by Peter Hewitt


The pair at the Gadwall hide are feeding young still, although over the weekend they were investigating lots of the other holes in the bank - so perhaps thay are investigating for their second brood.

The pair at the Kingfisher hide were spotted at the weekend doing a 'change over'! That means that they are sitting on eggs! How exciting!

This isn't a great time to see them as they will be busy sitting on the eggs. The adults will do a change over every two/ three hours... both parents take turns keeping the eggs warm so one will be out fishing while the other is incubating. After a few hours the fishing adult will come back to the bank and call ("Honey, I'm home!"), the incubating adult will leave the nest to fish and let the other take their turn.
They will be incubating for about 19-21 days. When the young have hatched is a good time to see the adults as they will be in and out every 10-30 minutes bringing in fish to the hungryu babies - so keep an eye on here I will let you know what's happening!