30/08/2024 - A Great Experience

Kingfisher on rock

After my good session with the chub, my next three trips accounted for just one chub about 3lbs. Hopefully with a lot of rain forecast in the next couple of days. Hopefully the chub might put in an appearance with a good rise on the river, also a few sea trout. Having said that on my last trip my day was made for me on Tuesday evening, I had a wonderful experience of watching a Kingfisher, it around 1800 hrs a flash of blue suddenly appeared coming up river, it then alighted on my rod tip, I sat quiet as a mouse, not daring to move, suddenly it flew from my rod top, to a rock in the water some ten feet away.It sat looking in the water for around a minute, no doubt impatient for something to eat, or to feed a youngster. It then dived before returning to the rock with no meal, half a minute later it flew about ten feet upstream, before hovering fifteen feet above the water, beating its wings rapidly, suddenly it plunged head first into the water, coming back up through the water with a fish in its pincer-like long beak back to the rock, where it commenced to hit the fish on the rock before swallowing it. This was repeated three times, over about ten minutes each time it was successful. Eventually it must have had enough to eat as it then flew off with his last fish in its beak to feed a youngster or a mate.

Barn Owl

Later in the evening as Ian was driving along a country lane, we spotted a barn owl on a stone wall, immediately Ian stopped alongside this youngster, I grabbed my camera bag, with camera out and in my hand, I was just ready to shoot a pic when the barn owl turned its back to us then flew off. Two great experiences on a chub fishing trip, I might not have caught a fish, but these two experiences outweighed, catching a chub.

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