wild life in the park

I was amazed on Saturday to find a lovely park in the middle of a town setting with a large lake.This housing estate is under 40 years and built on farm land and surrounds the big park.The lake had ducks,swans,gulls and more surprisingly Kingfishers,darting  to fro( in full view of people) not afraid at all.I have never watched so close and for ages these little birds,yet here in this crowded town these normally shy birds were thriving.I know we have a lot wildlife in towns but I thought Kingfishers a bit of rarity.

They certainly are - you're very lucky.

That's amazing Flowering Rose.  We live near the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust in Wales and have been regular visitors there for many years.  We have spent hours in the hides next to their favourite fishing spots waiting to see them, have only caught a few fleeting glimpses and never managed to get a photo!  Maybe we should try somewhere a bit busier

Hi flowering rose. Kingfishers are certainly very shy of people and what a treat, I'm still trying to get a pic of a Kingfisher to add to my growing Flickr pics. Where is the town you are referring to?

There's always an excitement at seeing kingfishers, perhaps because of their very exotic appearance and their particular lifestyle. Because of this we tend to assume that they're rare and shy. I think their apparent shyness is because of the way they operate, either moving at high speed or spending quite a lot of time sitting still, and of course they live where fish are plentiful, which is isn't always where we live.

Their numbers are governed by the fact that their habitat is mainly linear, either rivers or pond and lake margins so, as they are not flocking or social birds, their territories dictate that they will be fairly thinly spread. However, where there is food and suitable nest sites, there is no reason to assume that they will not live amongst us. Urban waters such as yours, Rose, provided they are unpolluted and have plenty of food (which is quite likely these days) are likely to attract all sorts of birds and give us the fantastic opportunity to watch how they live.

Enjoy them!

Joe

The park is in Yate near Bristol.