The kingfisher who came to tea

They're among the most beautiful, and shyest, creatures in Britain – you can wait by a river for hours in the hope of glimpsing one and be rewarded with nothing more than a fleeting flash of electric blue.

So imagine John Dent’s astonishment when he wandered into his kitchen – and spotted a kingfisher calmly perched beside his teapot.



Mr Dent had regularly spied the bird visiting his garden pond but never expected to encounter it inside his cottage in Withington, Herefordshire.

The retired farmer was disappointed when the bird quickly flew away. But the kingfisher made a second visit, giving Mr Dent time to grab his camera and capture this astonishing image.