Bursting with excitement, my mission was to get to the hide to see the magical bird that had been reported there minutes before. Wishing I could be teleported so I could get there quicker, I skipped along the gravel path, leaving my mum behind. I peered through the gap in the hide, my eyes lit up at the bird’s shimmering blue and copper plumage. Its stubby, carrot-coloured legs clung to an overhanging branch on the lake’s edge, autumn sunlight illuminating every feather. The bird was a Eurasian kingfisher, Alcedo atthis. From that point on, every weekend I would visit my local nature reserve – Warnham in West Sussex – and observe their behaviour.
