A lovely constitutional today with two of nature's most colourful, yet hard to spot, things along the way.
Firstly, this bright green grasshopper on the path (which made it easy to spot)…...
….and, secondly, a kingfisher flew along the river towards me before alighting on a branch to feed on unsuspecting sticklebacks below.
I know these are iffy shots but we shouldn't fail to record these things just because of that.
We have lived here now for just about 9 years and I take this constitutional about 5 days a week on average (you do the math) and yet this is only the sixth time I have seen one in all that time (two of those sightings were on consecutive days - just to emphasis their rarity).
That bright turquoise flash just below centre and to the right of the shot is on a branch about 6' above the river and is the bird in question. I'm sat about 30 metres away on the opposite bank with the compact digi-gadget at full zoom. Just to give you a sense of scale.
The kingfisher dived in a couple of times, returned to its vantage point, and bashed its victims on the branch before swallowing 'em whole (as you do). It eventually flew off to the left and I departed for home in a wonderful mood.
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