Kingfisher

admin
, 07 August 2019
Kingfisher
© Jon Hawkins

By Charlotte Owen

WildCall Officer 

To catch a fish requires patience and skill.  Armed with intimate knowledge of the riverbank, you select the optimal spot to sit and wait.  The water is shallow and clear, and your attention never wavers from the glistening surface as you scan for signs of movement.  Detecting a flash of silver, your head bobs as you subconsciously perform complex calculations about depth, velocity and angle of entry, before – splash!  Almost too fast to see, you plunge into a perfect dive and emerge a moment later with a mouthful of minnow.  If you’re a kingfisher, that is.

Sleek and aerodynamic, with lightning reflexes and deadly accuracy, the kingfisher is the ultimate angler.  But it doesn’t all come naturally and this year’s youngsters must learn their trade.  Once they’ve emerged from their bankside burrows they will only be fed for a few more days before their parents return to the nest to begin a second or third brood, leaving their fledglings to fend for themselves.  They may be well equipped for fishing but have ‘all the gear and no idea’ so it can be a steep learning curve, and despite their affinity for water there’s a real risk of drowning if their feathers get waterlogged.  Many don’t make it but for those that survive their first dive it’s a case of practice makes perfect.  Their clumsy attempts are gradually refined as they plummet into the water again and again, sharpening their aim and improving their form until their diving reaches the Olympic standard of an accomplished adult.

The ideal fishing perch is one or two metres above the water, with a clear view of any unsuspecting sticklebacks below.  With a target in sight, the sparrow-sized bird plunges from its perch in a split second, crossing the divide between air and water at up to 25 mph.  Its open eyes are protected by a third eyelid, which closes on impact like a pair of built-in swimming goggles as the bird grasps its prey and rises to the surface in a spray of sparkling droplets.  It’s a performance that’s over in a heartbeat but once seen, is never forgotten.

Leave a comment

Comments

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783308058.63160 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783308058.65770.0261Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783308058.65780.0001Server address: 216.73.216.170
1783308058.65790.0001Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783308058.65790Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/kingfisher
    [s] => kingfisher
    [1] => kingfisher
)
1783308058.65820.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783308058.65920.001 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783308058.6610.0017 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22674541
1783308058.66170.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22674541
1783308058.66240.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-06 03:20:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-06 03:20:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783308058.66360.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='kingfisher')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-06 03:20:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783308058.66610.0024 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783308058.66660.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1831 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-06 03:20:00'
1783308058.66740.0008 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783308058.6680.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783308058.66860.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=181 LIMIT 1
1783308058.66920.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=45 LIMIT 1
1783308058.66990.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783308058.67020.0003 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783308058.67120.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-06 03:20:00' AND postSlug='kingfisher'
1783308058.69160.0205Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783308058.69220.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783308058.69370.0015Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783308058.6940.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783308058.69480.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783308058.69630.0014 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783308058.69930.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783308058.69990.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783308058.70180.0019Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783308058.70190.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783308058.70280.0009 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783308058.70340.0006 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783308058.70560.0022 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783308058.70650.0009 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783308058.70720.0006 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783308058.70990.0028 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783308058.71080.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783308058.71290.0021 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783308058.71330.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783308058.71360.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783308058.71430.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783308058.71460.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='kingfisher')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-06 03:20:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783308058.71640.0018 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783308058.71690.0004 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783308058.71950.0026Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783308058.72050.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1831 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783308058.77140.0509 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783308058.7720.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783308058.77220.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783308058.77290.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783308058.77350.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783308058.77420.0007 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783308058.77630.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783308058.77680.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783308058.77850.0018 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783308058.77960.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783308058.78020.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783308058.78060.0004 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783308058.7830.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783308058.78350.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783308058.78560.0021 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783308058.78940.0038 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783308058.79010.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783308058.79060.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783308058.79280.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783308058.79330.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783308058.79540.0021 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783308058.79740.002 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783308058.7980.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783308058.79840.0004 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783308058.80040.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783308058.80090.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783308058.80330.0024 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783308058.80470.0014Request time: 0.1749
1783308058.80470Process time: 0.1747
1783308058.80470Memory: 1.6239