Native to North America, only 4 Belted Kingfishers have EVER been recorded in the UK and 3 of them were on the Isle of Scilly and not mainland UK. You can imagine the amount of excitement it generated when this stunning male was reported in Lancashire, England, UK ! 👀 For almost every UK birder, this was a lifer... a 'once in a lifetime' chance to see this stunning bird.
It finally settled along the River Darwen at Roach Bridge, near Salmesbury in Lancashire, UK. Unfortunately, you had to use around 150 metres of a farmers field to get to where you could stand to try and catch a glimpse of it. I say unfortunately, because the farmer was a greedy guy who charged each person £10 per visit. I heard from one guy that it took him 11 visits before he saw the Kingfisher and the farmer got him for his £10 - 10 times! I even heard a story where 3 guys paid in the morning and didn't see it, so they went elsewhere for a few hours and when they returned, they were asked for another £10. The Kingfisher stayed in the area for around seven weeks and the word is that over 10,000 birders went to try and see it! (most 3 or 4 times)
I was lucky (but determined) in that it only cost me £10 to capture the footage. I was there at 6.20am and there were already 20 or so birders there. At least 120 birders came and went that day and the bird finally showed up at 6.20pm and there were only a few of us left.
If anyone who went to see the bird at Roach Bridge reads this, it would be interesting to hear if the farmer 'got you' too ?
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