It was more of the same at the nest this morning but it is worth recording a pattern that has started to emerge. At first when I arrived, it was 40 minutes before I even heard a Kingfisher let alone saw one. The usual fears started to go through my mind as I waited, had they been disturbed so much yesterday that they had deserted the youngsters or had they fledged the nest and departed the area? Both of those scenarios were dismissed when I heard a bird at last. As is usual, after hearing the bird and then noting the silence it was less than a minute before, there it was disappearing in to the burrow..... always a relief to see...... Then, during the next few minutes their were two further visits before it went quiet again and after another half an hour there had been no sign. So, heres my theory. The birds have settled in to a pattern of feeding each youngster, one at a time and then resting for the next 50 minutes or so before reapeating the pattern again. Could this indicate just 3 chicks in the nest, it certainly points to that. But what is now becoming obvious,incubation commenced later than I thought. Also, I have read that chcks can spend an extended period in the nest depending on the amount of prey that they recieve from the parents so it could be that the disturbance which takes place with alarming regularity is having an effect on the progress of the youngsters. More likely though, and having studied my diaries from earlier on, it seems that incubation probably started 5 days later than I guessed which would mean that the chicks are due to fledge either today or tomorrow. I hope so!