There have been two recent episodes of fish thieves at work at the hospice.

The first incident happened about a month ago. Sadly, I didn’t have my camera to capture the two culprits on film. They were young men with large fishing nets, trying to steal the fish from our ponds. Luckily, a nurse saw and challenged them, at which point they ran off. How anyone could nick a few fish from a hospice pond I do not know.

The second incident happened yesterday. Luckily, this time I was able to get my camera to take some photos of the felon. Anyone watching me must have thought I was going a bit nuts as I crept around taking photos of the offender. The offender did notice me getting closer and just moved elsewhere on the pond. In total I spent about fifteen minutes creeping around. Here he is….

I felt very privileged to have spent fifteen minutes with a kingfisher. I had very fleetingly seen one before at the hospice, but nothing like this. He, or she, didn’t seem that bothered by my presence.

I think that I mentioned kingfishers in a blog the last time I saw one. They are a bird that means a lot to me. For me, they are a sign of hope, that there is something better to come. They are a glimpse of brilliance in a world that can be dark and very tough. The beautiful orange on its breast and the iridescent blue on its back. Wow, it’s something special!

I was buzzing after I saw it and able to forgive it for probably stealing our smaller fish. Maybe it was only trying to eat the water boatmen and other bugs, which they will also eat, but I suspect it had fish for tea.

I knew I had to blog about kingfishers today, because when you experience something so special you can’t keep it to yourself.

Enjoy!