I enjoyed a walk around Prior Park National Trust Gardens yesterday and had a wonderful close encounter with a female Kingfisher at the top pond below Prior Park College. She was sitting on the stone edge and dived three times, each time successfully catching a tiny fish. I was only some 50 feet from her. Later, walking the NT footpath towards the top of Widcombe Hill GR 766633, I heard Stock Dove calling and watched a pair displaying in flight and courtship behaviour on a branch, quite high up in a tree.
Around 9am on Saturday 4th, at Compton Dando, a Dipper appeared along the River Chew and stopped close to the bridge and immediately started singing. I have watched Dippers around Bath regularly since the 1970s and had never heard the full song. I was truly thrilled to bits, as were my two Nats companions; it was a first for them also. My Collins field guide says Dippers will sing even in the depths of winter.
Lucy Delve
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