Kingfisher Blue

We stopped at the Allanton Wildlife Reserve to stretch our legs and have a spot of refreshment. The reserve was at the water’s edge and, as the tide was out, there was an expanse of mud with pools on it.

There were ducks, stilts, gulls and, best of all, kingfishers who flew out from the shelter of the trees and perched on one in a row of short posts, seeking food from the mud.

The New Zealand Kingfisher is different from the one resident in the UK in that, when still, it has a white front and apparently a dark back. In flight, though, the mid blue feathers on its wings are obvious and have a beautiiful sheen. So kingfisher blue has a different meaning here.

Jean