Letters To A Kingfisher - 2

Dear Kingfisher,

Blow me down! It's almost as though one of my trolls has been following me ...

Last evening after I'd posted yesterday's letter I received an unexpected e-mail from Second Troll. It was a lovely message enquiring after my health and general well-being considering that I must have lost a substantial part of my income. This person has lived with significant health issues for decades and had just yesterday experienced a first hold up in the delivery of live-saving medication since becoming a person at serious risk. It was nice to resume friendly exchanges of messages. I just wanted to go on record to mention that.

From discover wildlife.com

I meant to mention it yesterday, but I hope you appreciate that I made an attempt to ease some of the danger from your nesting season. I saw a mink disappear under the shed door at the weekend. I thought it was an otter because I've only seen black mink until now, but this one was coconut brown. Then, after a little research, I realised that otters were actually a lot bigger than I thought and mink now come in many colours. I don't visit the shed often but it is useful for storing stuff. When I opened it, the smell was unmistakeable and there was a pile of the distinctive mink droppings spread around the floor, but heaping up into a pile in the corner. Sad to say there were also a lot of black feathers about the place. I thought Mrs Moorhen's family seemed a little less in evidence this year. This discovery explained it. I could hear and catch glimpses of the mink as it moved to hide behind the boxes, tools and spare, probably useless, parts for the boat engine. I wasn't going to be able to manage this alone so I went to find Barry The B. Barry is an elderly terrier that is part of a small pack that occasionally sniffs, barks and makes a nuisance of themselves on my mooring. We are on very good terms now, but it did take a few years for him to stop nipping at my ankles every time I walked anywhere nearby. Being fourteen years old he is not now as agile as he once was, but he got to work immediately. He managed to corner the mink in a box, but had to be careful because mink are savage, vicious predators and this one would think nothing of attacking Barry and inflicting some serious damage; particularly so because I suspected she was nesting. By this time the Farmer had also arrived with a gun. The mink was dispatched with a single shot (hissing and screaming as she lunged at the intruding muzzle) and Barry was allowed to deal with the six kits. They can't have been very old at all since they were blind, hairless and each was still in an almost foetal ball. It makes me very sad to have been responsible for the death of these animals, but the damage that seven mink could cause, not to mentioned the devastation they would inflict on all the wildlife round here require that they are dealt with as soon as possible.

In slightly better news, I made another attempt yesterday to get into the online food shopping thing. I know this won't interest you since you forage for your own food, but I managed to locate most of the stuff I want to buy on the supermarket's website. When I tried before it was a time-consuming and highly frustrating experience and I abandoned the miserable process before completion. I was surprised to see that, if I was quick, I should be able to arrange a pick up that day. I clicked to collect between 4 and 6pm. Somehow though, I didn't notice until I received the confirmation e-mail message that 4-6pm was not yesterday, but next Monday. I tried to change the booking (or "slot" as they are quaintly designated) but that was the earliest available. I may have to become a bit smarter in how I do my shopping if I continue in this manner. The £1 or £1.50 charge for the service is bearable, but the prices in the store were cheaper for two of certain items. The discounts weren't applied to this online list. That's kind of incidental to the real conundrum though. I've run out of a few things and some other supplies are going to be used up before Monday. Do I risk a run to the supermarket? If I go, how much should I buy? I don't want next Monday's provisions to go off because I have insufficient storage on the boat. I think I am also losing some of the confidence to go out. I've been putting it off until having to go out is unavoidable. It's difficult being human sometimes.

I'm saving the best news for last. Like me, you will have noticed the return yesterday of two pairs of swallows; at least I'm assuming you noticed. I can't tell you how much joy that brought me. Do kingfishers experience joy? I know you're here with your family all year round, but the swallows travel some six thousand miles to return here after wintering south of the Sahara Desert. A few weeks ago I read of a tragedy in Greece. Thousands of swallows had been discovered dead from exhaustion while others were found staggering around on the ground too exhausted to continue flying. The blame was placed on the protracted period of wind from the north, which made their journeys so much more difficult. Normally I would expect swallows to begin arriving in April but, until yesterday, there was no sign of them. I feared they would not get back here at all. My heart swelled inside me when I saw the first pair swoop over the river. I'm not ashamed to admit that I also shed a tear or two. This isolation is hard going and I have to take my joy as, if and when it comes.

From livingwithbirds.com

Anyway, that's it for today.

Love and best wishes,

marsh
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