A magical morning

Sorry if you are all bored of kingfishers by now, but as I had a day off I had to have one last visit to the Flash before giving up for a couple of weeks. 
I wasted an hour at the Tom Edmondson Hide before someone came in and said a couple of kingfishers had been at Horrock's hide for ages. 
Of course you didn't see me for dust - I was off in a flash. 
I've NEVER seen a kingfisher from Horrock's before, so was convinced that they would be gone by the time I got there and it would be a waste of time. How wrong I was!!!! 
I spent a wonderful 90 minutes watching them fishing right in front of me. The hide had a fair few visitors whilst I was there and it didn't seem to mind the commotion from children and the noisy whirring and clicking from the bank of cameras pointed in it's direction. It would fly off for a few minutes and then soon return. The only problem was the light wasn't great when I arrived, but dramatically improved throughout the morning. It was hard to catch him diving into the water as he was almost too close - and I've never been able to say that before!!  I took around 300 shots and have not been through them all but here are two that I liked instantly. 
If I hadn't booked a hair appointment, I'd have happily stayed there all day. It was a fabulous experience to see them so close up. 

Back at work tomorrow and then off to London at the weekend for family birthdays so not sure I will find time to visit again this week, but I will try :) 

Thanks for tolerating my love of kingfishers.