Day 15 - The Kingfisher - 30 Days Wild

Day 15: Star Species

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

Without doubt, one of my favourite bird is the kingfisher. I haven't seen many in my life and it was only last year I saw my first one. A spectacular, colourful little bird that is so charming to see and I get so excited when I get a glimpse of one.

Recently on Facebook I noticed there had been a few spotted in a lovely little place called 'Forest Farm' in Whitechurch, Cardiff. A great place and a haven to wildlife with some really good bird hides. We got comfortable in one of the hides and waited; whilst waiting we meet a lot of lovely people all eager to to get a glimpse of this beautiful bird.

A few other birds made an appearance, including a grey heron, green woodpecker and moorhens:

Grey Heron

Adult moorhen

Juvenile Moorhen

It must have been well over an hour before we got our reward, my partner Dan spotted it in the back of the pond. It was quite hard to see at first, with the orange breast blending into the reeds. But as soon as he started flying, with that striking blue, there was no way you could miss him.

The beautiful kingfisher at Forest Farm

Unfortunately, he was only around for about a minute and never returned when we were there. We didn't mind, we saw him and that was enough to make us smile!

I will definitely make Forest Farm one of my 'go to' birding places, it's great! Here are some of the other treats we saw:

Closeup of a Magpie from one of the hides

Great Tit

Not far from the education building we discovered this little patch of wild flowers; isn't beautiful? I would much rather see flowers like this than a well mowed lawn :)

Red tailed bumble bee collecting pollen from a cornflower.

Interesting Facts about Kingfishers:

• Kingfishers nest in burrows in the river bank.
• The kingfisher's feathers are not actually that colourful; the brilliant blue of the kingfisher’s back feathers are not the result of pigment, but the result of light striking specially modified layers of feather cells.
• In Victorian times, many kingfishers were shot and stuffed to put in glass cases, while their feathers were widely used to adorn hats.