Little Marlow - Kingfisher at Close Quarters

I decided to visit to Little Marlow GP mid afternoon to check out the wildfowl and gulls.  As I drove down the concrete road a mass of birds were milling over the lake.  I later found out from Jackie Newcombe that I had just missed a Peregrine!  Unfortunately it was not to reappear but it did spook the birds for the rest of the afternoon.

Numbers of ducks and gulls have recently increased as the weather gets colder.  In particular Common Gull numbers now increasing significantly.  The four regular gull species were present in numbers, plus five Greater Black-backed Gulls and one Caspian Gull (I think!  See below).

I saw one colour ringed adult Black-headed Gull  "Green JY60".  This individual was ringed in Oslo, Norway on 10th April 2015 and is the first sighting away from Oslo.  A distance of 1172 Km!

I was stood with Kevin Holt on the end of the point on the west side when a Kingfisher landed in the bushes overhanging the water just 20 feet away!  It stayed there for perhaps five minutes or so.  We stood as still as possible while getting cameras ready.  Probably the closest I have ever been to a Kingfisher while it was fishing!  Incredible.

As I left large numbers of Jackdaws were arriving to roost, probably well over 1000 and two Snipe were still trying to hide along the edge of the sand spit.

Kingfisher - This digiscoped image filled the camera frame.

Caspian Gull (Hopefully!)- Possibly the same bird seen by Paul Watts yesterday.  Rather distant and in  fading light.