I got up early this morning to go back to the Kingfisher nest. When I arrived there was nothing happening so I walked down to the river to have a look at the Darter nest. Mr Darter was sitting on the nest with his head tucked under his feathers asleep. Mrs Darter was not home.
I walked along the river bank and took photos of the Black Cormorants drying their wings on the overhanging tree branches. The sun was catching their shimmery black feathers and green eyes. I spent ages moving around trying to get a rich blurred green background to do the shot justice.
Back to the Kingfisher tree. One of the parents was sitting high up in a close by tree so I moved into the shadows and waited. Before long he came lower and I was able to get some nice shots of him with a large dragonfly he had caught.
He was calling and I could hear another bird answering. The calls came closer and then I saw the female bird flying in. She had a lizard in her mouth. I was very lucky, they both moved around from branch to branch but at one point landed on the same one close enough for me to photograph them both in the same frame. One with a dragonfly and the other with the lizard.
Then one by one they went into the hollow trunk with their prey and emerged very quickly without it. It was then that I heard the squawking of babies for the first time. At least two, maybe three or four. After this, under pressure from the crying babies, the busy parents ferried a continual stream of unlucky little creatures into the nest. It was wonderful to watch and very difficult to tear myself away and get to work.
On the way back to the car I stopped past the Darter nest again. Mrs Darter was still not home, but I got a few shots of Mr Darter sitting and re-arranging sticks.
