Today has been a day to remember. I went to Ashford reservoir hoping that I'd get a chance at the juvenile osprey fishing. After an hour I was getting restless and thinking about switching to the green sandpiper or the very active kingfisher. Fortunately at that moment, a more observant birder, Chris Gladman, pitched up and pointed out that the bird was perched high in one of the conifers at the back of the lake. Although it was then chased off by some noisy dogs, it returned shortly afterwards and put on an impressive display of swooping, diving and on the fourth attempt, catching a young pike. It then flew off with two corvids in hot pursuit.
It was all so unfamiliar and a joy to watch - being able to see it over again when processing the pictures was a great privilege.
The ring detail is visible on the tight crop below: