FLY FISHING

Keep your eyes peeled for kingfishers this autumn, says Brian Pike

t may be barely larger than a sparrow, but the kingfisher is arguably Britain’s most spectacular native bird. With its metallic blue back, vivid green wings and bright orange chest – plus a splash or two of black and white for good measure – there’s no mistaking it for anything else.

The kingfisher’s exuberant plumage once made it a favourite target for taxidermists. Nowadays kingfishers are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, but they face other threats, including pollution from pesticide residues and damage to their riverbank habitat due to unsympathetic management.

The RSPB estimates that there are currently between three and six thousand breeding pairs of kingfishers across the British Isles. The further north you go, the fewer you’ll find and the patchier their distribution becomes, especially in Scotland. Fortunately kingfishers are still relatively common here in the Dales, although they’re not particularly fond of fast-moving upland streams.

Kingfishers feed on small fish such as minnows and sticklebacks, along with tadpoles, freshwater shrimps, dragonfly larvae, water beetles and other aquatic insects. Each bird needs to eat around 60% of its own body weight every day – no mean feat – so to ensure a good supply of food each kingfisher fiercely defends its own territory. This typically extends to two or three miles of river.

Within each territory a resident kingfisher will have several favourite fishing spots. The bird will wait patiently on a willow or alder branch overhanging a stretch of clear, shallow water where potential prey is easy to see. Once a suitable victim is sighted it promptly dives into the water. If it catches a fish it will return to its perch and batter it on the branch to kill it, prior to swallowing it whole.

THE EYES HAVE IT

Kingfishers are supremely well adapted to their dive-and-grab lifestyle. When a kingfisher plunges into the water in pursuit of a tasty morsel a transparent third eyelid closes at the moment of impact to protect the eye. Meanwhile the focus of the lens instantly alters to give the bird better vision underwater. Kingfishers begin nesting in March, carefully digging out a narrow nest tunnel up to a metre deep. A clutch of six or seven shiny white eggs is laid at the far end of the tunnel, in a small dip downwards that prevents them from rolling out. Both parents incubate the eggs, which will hatch out after about three weeks.

A busy time follows for the new mother and father, as each chick can eat at least a dozen fish per day. After four or five weeks of having food delivered to them the fledglings are ready to leave the nest. The parents continue to feed them for four or five days more, after which time they are expected to find new territories and fend for themselves.

Kingfishers are very sensitive to disturbance, and if there are humans or dogs in the vicinity it will inhibit parent kingfishers from feeding their young. If you are lucky enough to discover a kingfisher nest, don’t linger too long in the vicinity – and keep your dog out of the water.

KINGFISHER SPOTTING

Kingfishers can potentially be seen around pretty much any still or slow-flowing, unpolluted stretch of fresh water with overhanging vegetation, but getting a clear view isn’t always that easy. A split-second flash of electric blue low over the water is as close as most people get.

The good news is that autumn is one of the best times of year for seeing kingfishers, for two good reasons. For one thing, once the leaves on the trees start to thin out you’ve got a far better chance of seeing a bird perching on a low-hanging waterside branch.

Secondly, there are a lot more kingfishers around at this time of year. Kingfisher parents will have spent the summer raising up to three broods of youngsters, all of whom will be busy competing for territory. Sadly, many will perish if winter is harsh, but for the time being it’s a full house.

For the perfect view, sitting and waiting patiently in a likely spot is a better strategy than relying on chance, so visiting a nature reserve with suitably placed hides is undoubtedly the best bet. A trip to a well-appointed reserve such as Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve in Catterick (foxglovecovert.org.uk) or Nosterfield Nature Reserve (luct.org.uk/nosterfield) near West Tanfield is likely to pay dividends. Whether you visit a reserve or cast about for a promising section of your local watercourse, the quiet hours just after dawn are when you’re most likely to observe kingfishers in action. That said, I’ve seen a kingfisher on the Swale in Richmond on a busy Bank Holiday afternoon when the riverbanks and the water were full of noisy revellers, so it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled whenever you’re in the right kind of terrain.

Come winter, kingfishers may well pop up in totally unexpected places. If their normal fishing haunts freeze over they will often move to warmer waters in towns and cities or migrate to the coast, where they are guaranteed unfrozen water and a good supply of food in brackish creeks and rock pools. They may even visit ice-free garden ponds in the hope of snatching a goldfish or two.

PREVIOUS PAGES LEFT A pair of adult kingfishers. RIGHT Kingfisher emerging from a hole in the ice. THIS PAGE TOP LEFT Kingfisher flying to nesting chamber with fish to feed chicks. LOWER LEFT Juvenile kingfishers on a perch. ABOVE Adult male common kingfisher diving into still water.