Down on the River Frome at Capel's Mill

I had to get a new tyre fitted this afternoon in time for an imminent MOT car test next week. Instead of hanging about at the garage I walked a few hundred yards to the nearby river at a place called Capel's Mill, the site of an old mill whose mill wheels were powered by the strong flow of water. Today the mill is long gone, but there are a few architectural remnants and a small footbridge. These now shelter under the large brick railway viaduct built to replace the original wooden viaduct designed by Isambard Kingdon Brunel in the 1840s.

I thought the heavy rainfall of the last few days might have produced a  faster flowing river, but actually the flow seemed quite normal. I gingerly walked over the old ruined walls of the mill and stood just a few beside and above the river which curves around a bend caused by a large embankment. It is here where the kingfisher nests in the soft earth of the twelve feet up the bank providing a safe residence for rearing its young. I have watched them here for some years.

Within two minutes of my arrival I saw a kingfisher perched on a log a little way downstream just inches above the river. I waited for it to fly up towards its nest and me standing opposite to it. It duly obliged and landed on a small branch of a tree before flying into the nest. It repeated this severla times so I managed to get a few chances to photograph it. However none of my shots are very good, as the scene is so dark under the thick tree canopy, the shade of the railway viaduct and a very cloudy sky. 

I have added a couple of other shots of it in the 'Extra photos' to give you an idea of its activities, but with a heavy crop and the high iso the shots are a bit rough.