Azure Kingfisher at Jerrabomberra Wetlands

[pardalote <>]

Hi All

This morning I finally made it out to Kelly's swamp with my small school group.  Due to the wetlands being disappointingly dry, we decided to walk down towards Jerrabomberra Creek.  We startled a night heron, and surprisingly, we found water (in the creek).  While scanning the river bank opposite to Fulica hide (~30m away), I spied an Azure Kingfisher perching on a cluster of branches lying vertically above the creek.  It was showing its magnificent blue back to us.  It then flew across the surface of the water, appearing to "skip" across the top like a stone, before perching again to show us its bright orange belly.  This was between 8:00 and 8:15.  Apart from that, nothing of interest other than an oriole, SN ibis and a BS kite.

Hopefully I will be able to get a photo of its perch up later, and hopefully a blurry "close-up" of the bird from that same shot.

Matt.