BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

40 BBC Wildlife

KINGFISHERS

I

t’s mid-January and I’m wading

thigh-high through a stream, looking

for kingfishers. Minnows dart before

each footstep. I hear a faint, high-

pitched peeping sound ahead and

slow my pace. A flash of orange and

cobalt blue whizzes by.

As an artist, I find the vivid pallet of

kingfishers irresistible and I have painted

them often. Over the years, I’ve learned a

lot about their behaviour, but I’ve always

longed to discover what happens when

these bright birds disappear underground

to bring up their young in the dark.

I follow the sound, looking for a steep

bank where this kingfisher might make

its nest. But I find nowhere suitable and

so head instead to some nearby flooded

gravel pits owned by a friend. She tells

me the bank where kingfishers regularly

nest has collapsed and so I offer to restore

it in exchange for setting up a hide to

photograph them.

And so begins an ambitious project to

turn a shed into an artificial riverbank.

I partition the space into three – to

accommodate an artificial kingfisher

nesting chamber, a CCTV camera system

and room for me to sit and watch the action.

I coat the shed in a mix of cement, earth

and tree roots to make it look as natural as

possible and, with the help of two friends,

place it in situ over four freezing-cold

February days.

Onthefinalday,asnightdrawsin,I

glimpsea silhouettedformskimmingover

thewater.It landsbrieflynexttothebank

thenfliesoff– I’malmostcertainit’sa

kingfisher.WhenI returna fewweekslater,

I discoverthetunnelis wornsmooth.White

droppingsaresplatteredlikepaintacross

thenestchamberandonthesoilfloorlays

a peanut-sizedcreampellet.I crumbleit

betweenmyfingertipstorevealfinefish

bonesandtinytranslucentscales,evidence

thatkingfishersareusingthisnest.Silently,

joyfully,I punchtheair.

Captivatingcourtship

Photographingkingfishersonthenestis

a delicateoperation– onefalsemoveand

theycanbolt.Toavoiddisturbance,I set

myCCTVcamerasrollingandleavethe

siteforseveralweeks,onlyvisitingafter

darktofurtivelyscanthroughthefootage

oftheearlystagesofnesting.Mostly,I

Solitary kingshers

have to overcome

a natural aversion

to one another in

order to breed.

How to see

kingfishers

OKingfishers live along clean

waterways, so start your search

there. You are most likely to see them

in spring and summer – they are

particularly active in early morning.

Use your ears as well as your eyes –

you’ll often hear the piercing ‘peep-

peep’ of a kingfisher before you see it.

OThese birds will habitually return to

favourite perches to fish from, so scan

any protruding twigs and branches that

hang over the water.

O Be patient. Anglers often see

kingfishers because they sit quietly

by riverbanks for long periods of time.

But don’t get too close to these birds

• kingfishers are a Schedule 1 species,
  and it is illegal to disturb them at their
  nest site without a special licence from
  Natural England.