At first glance apart from being birds you wouldn't think there was much these two had in common. One is a silent land based predator, the other a multi-coloured waterside assassin. But when it comes to digestion they have one thing in common, they both regurgitate pellets made up of the indigestible leftovers from their meals. Most people know about owl pellets and may at some time have dissected one to find tiny bones or even skulls coughed out in a hard pellet. Not many people however know that kingfishers do the same but as the majority go straight into the river, lake or stream they are rarely discovered to take a closer look at. I once watched a kingfisher eject one into the grass and
Apparently in North America a snipe hunt is an elaborate practical joke where unsuspecting youngsters are sent out into the wilderness to hunt a mythical creature, the snipe. Which seems a bit odd when the snipe actually exists! The snipe is a medium sized and very shy wetland bird which is distinctive because of the size of it’s bill, in proportion to the bird it is huge! You’ll definitely know it when you see it. There are two types of snipe the common and the jack snipe. The jack snipe is a winter visitor to the UK whereas the common snipe is a year round resident. A good place to spot them in the summer is perched on fence posts on the moors where they breed. Listen out for their distinc
