Finding beauty in a ditch

I was going to call this "An hour in the company of a beautiful female" ... but I thought I'd better not! However, this is the female in question and although she turned up in a ditch, I think she is definitely beautiful, so I was made up when she performed for us for about an hour 

She certainly made everyone's day with her antics

She was alternately preening and hunting ... but not fish. I can't figure out what insects she was taking but she had five or six of them out of the ditch

Back to preening

That darker 'V' on her chest must be where she can't reach with her long beak

How do they get their feet up there behind their wings when they have a scratch???

I did try for a few action shots but she was in an overgrown ditch with lots of overhanging twigs and branches just to make things difficult. That's my excuse for why everything ended up in bad pics anyway and not that she was just too @#*n fast! So, we'll stick with nice poses. She's having a scratch again.

Another critter bites the dust

"W'as that up there?"

This was the best action I managed ... returning to the perch with a catch.

That was one of the best KF shoots I've had for a while and her appearance certainly kept everyone happy.