BELTED KINGFISHER

Once upon a time in the West...Preston to be precise!

I met Phil at 5.35am at the Humber Bridge Country Park. After an initial hiccup regarding access he found a spot and joined me. We headed for Eggborough to pick Steve up. No problems there, so the 3 of us headed over the Pennines on a busy M62. The M60 was mercifully kind and we arrived at Preston by 8.

With a little help from Google Maps we negotiated our way towards the River Ribble, although we weren't 100% sure of the access. We were definitely aware of the difficulty we were about to experience getting to the River!

As we walked a bit further down the footpath a Birder appeared out of the Woods. After a brief chat he confirmed that the bird was still present, so we took his route through the trees. We found a path of sorts and followed it. It soon became steeper and slippier. After my third fall I decided to slide down certain sections on my backside...plenty of padding there! Eventually we all made it to the riverbank. Steve was there first and gave us the news that we were in the wrong place, as he could see a group of Birders at the confluence of the Tunbrook further East!

As Steve turned I suggested we gave it a while here just in case we could pick it up from our current vantage point. To be honest I didn't fancy climbing back up straight away...more on that later!!!

He started scanning as we attempted to join him. Then came the momentous shout..."I'VE GOT IT"! Somehow the difficult terrain was forgotten as Phil and I ended up next to him and within seconds we were all viewing the BK perched on a large branch some 80 yards East of us, on our side of the River...

First sight at 8.59

It was overcast so the light was poor...but who cares?! After a short period of back-slapping we settled down to enjoy the bird...

Last of the Summer Wine!

...which remained in view most of the time between the odd fishing sorte...

The morning progressed and more admirers made it down to the River. It was past 10 now and the bird had flown across to the other bank a couple of times before returning to its original spot...

At 9.55 the bird flew down the River...

A record shot!

The bird was still viewable distantly till 10.40 when it flew further down the River towards Brockholes. We gave it till Noon but we didn't see it again. We decided to leave and face the steep climb which we had all been dreading but had put to the back of our minds. This was going to test the knee replacement! The initial few feet  involved a steep step which I was struggling to negotiate...to say the least. I grabbed a vine to try and pull myself up...it snapped...sending me backwards with a thump! It gave some entertainment to the waiting crowd including Paul Herrieven (hope you finally connected pal). A couple of chaps helped me to my feet and I managed to find another way up the intial rise.

The next 45 minutes or so were a challenge to say the least. A slippery slope indeed...

At times we (mainly yours truly) were on all fours...

Steve seemed to be doing OK to be fair!

...grabbing any decent sized tree we could to pull ourselves up the steep hill. Eventually we made it...quite a relief...helped by the fact we'd connected.

So, success after two previous failed attempts, which made it even sweeter. The vagaries of twitching are amazing. After last months unforgettable trip to Papa Westray it would have been inconceivable to think I'd be looking at a BELTED KINGFISHER less than a month later!!! Rather nice though.

Despite an hour plus delay on the M62 on our return journey we made it back over the Pennines before dusk. A brilliant day with great company, a positive outcome...and a good laugh to boot.

Brothers across the Pond