Whoops! Kingfisher diving for her lunch misses her minnow and ends up with a pebble

By SARA NELSON

Splash! The kingfisher plunges into the stream but just misses her minnow, biting down on a pebble instead

Plunging into a stream, this hungry kingfisher had her lunch firmly in her sights - but veered off course at the last moment, missing her minnow by a whisker and grabbing a pebble instead.

The orange and turquoise bird was left empty-handed after the speedy fish darted off and evaded capture.

But the common kingfisher - thought to be a female less than one-year-old - returned immediately and did get a meal.


Still hungry: Unthwarted the bird plunged back into the water and snatched up her dinner

Photographer Tony Flashman has spent ten hours a week at the stream, near his home in Deal, Kent, for the past 18 months.

The 54-year-old sits in his hide watching the kingfishers as they sit on their perch, fly and fish.

He said: 'This bird mis-timed its dive and missed the fish. It ended up picking up a small pebble that was nearby instead.

'It would have noticed its mistake pretty quickly when it went to bite into it and was met with a tough surface rather than something squidgy.


Coming up for air: The bird had returned to the surface empty-handed before making a second, successful dive

'My camera can take nine frames a second and in that time the bird can leave its perch, dive into the water and leave with a fish.

'To get the timing right and get these photos is very difficult. I have taken hundreds of photos to get good one like these.'


source: dailymail