Kingfisher

Fairly common resident and partial migrant. Gradually increasing but vulnerable to hard winters. 

 

 

Common Kingfisher on Louth Canal January 22nd 2018; photograph courtesy of John Clarkson.

The Atlas put the Lincolnshire population at around 60-80 pairs in the late 1980s with a wintering population of 60 birds. It is a thinly spread bird and although there are many miles of apparently suitable habitat along drains the 60-degree grading of most banks is unsuitable for breeding Kingfishers which prefer a vertical cliff to nest in. Such sites offer better protection from predators. Thus, natural streams and rivers and gravel pits are favoured. Neither the BBS nor WBS picks up Kingfishers in sufficient numbers to produce an index for the county.  The long-term UK trend from 1994-2019 is down 12%. The BTO Atlas 2007-2011 suggested a slight net increase in the number of 10km squares occupied. APEP4 puts the adjusted Lincolnshire population at between 180 and 300 pairs in 2016. These numbers look unrealistically high. With no hard winters since 2010/11 the population has had a chance to grow. However, WeBS Online reports a rolling five year mean of only 40 birds per winter over the period to 2018/19. Data from LBR indicates a peak monthly count of 60 in August 2017 was a high one so the overall situation currently is difficult to ascertain.