Kingfisher lament (Alcedo atthis)

Unfortunately the attempt to breed this year has failed for this male Kingfisher. the female vanished about 2 weeks ago and the nest burrow has now been abandoned a couple of weeks into feeding.

I have no way of knowing what became of the female, but I do know that the first nest burrow was dug out from above (almost certainly by a mink).

I demonstrates the odds against which native wildlfe are often competing. I'm currently trying to decide whether it would be worth trying to instigate a program of trapping using Mink rafts on the river as they seem to be endemic here, with even the swans losing all but one of there cygnets.