TWITCHERS are in for a Spring treat, as a pair of kingfishers are currently breeding at a popular bird-watching location.

The kingfishers are part of a whole array of breeding activity commencing for many species at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre.

In particular, there has been a wave of activity with a pair of kingfishers breeding at the centre.

It is estimated that there are 4,900 breeding pairs of kingfishers in the UK and with a pair breeding at Slimbridge the reserve team and reserve volunteers have been monitoring their activity closely.

Stroud News and Journal: Kingfishers spotted at Slimbridge Wetland Centre

Dave Paynter, Reserve Manager at WWT Slimbridge said: “The pair of kingfishers will be very active over the next couple of weeks. 

“This is a great time to come and see them feeding the youngsters. 

“There will be periods of busy activity as the parents make regular visits to and from the nest hole with fish for the newly hatched chicks. 

“Visitors may have to be patient as feeds can be intermittent.” 

There are also another two pairs of kingfishers on site at WWT Slimbridge which are busy feeding young. 

Visitors are being encouraged to look for flashes of blue along the ditches in the car park, behind the South Lake Discovery Hide and on the approach to the Hogarth Hide. 

The Zeiss Hide, Decoy Hide and hides which lead to WWT Slimbridge’s Estuary Tower are also good spots for visitors to catch a glimpse of feeding kingfishers. 

Stroud News and Journal: Kingfishers spotted at Slimbridge Wetland Centre

Kingfishers incubate typically five to seven eggs for about three weeks. 

In early May, the eggs have hatched and the kingfishers will spend around four weeks raising the chicks.

Both the male and the female will feed them in the nest hole, with up to a hundred fish a day - including some aquatic invertebrates. 

The kingfishers start by choosing small fish to feed the young with and as they grow, they are given bigger fish to eat. 

The juveniles will then fledge the nest after around 25 days and the adults will be increasingly active over the next two weeks with the young expected to fledge about the end of May. 

Only a few lucky visitors may see the newly fledged young which tend to disperse very quickly, as the parents will chase them off as they prepare for a second clutch of eggs. 

Two broods are the norm but occasionally a third clutch has occurred at WWT Slimbridge. 

All pictures by WWT.