Town ranger has rare close encounter with kingfisher

A Frome town ranger had a rare close encounter with a kingfisher after the bird landed on her hand and stayed there for around 10 minutes while she watered flowers in the town centre.

Whilst watering flowers near Frome Library, Frome Town Council ranger Laura O’Brien spotted a kingfisher land on the ground nearby. Believing it might need help, she picked it up to keep it safe.

Laura said the encounter was highly unusual, describing kingfishers as elusive birds that rarely venture away from the river.

She said, “It was amazing to be able to be that close to it and just be able to look at its feathers in detail; for it to just sit on my finger looking into my eyes! It stayed on my hand for about 10 minutes. I took my glove off and it kind of wanted to perch on my finger, so I was just watering the flowers with a bird on my finger. They’re notoriously quite elusive and just stick to the river; I don’t know why it flew out into the town and it was very out of character that it was staying on my hand. It actually seemed quite calm, it wasn’t breathing heavily at all or shaking – I think it was in shock. Then it flew away, back to the river and apparently fine.”

Frome Town Council’s Resilience Officer Jo Morris said, “Spotting a kingfisher in the centre of Frome is a reminder that nature and wildlife are never far away. We’re lucky to have lots of green space in Frome and to have the River Frome running through our town and there’s so much evidence that proximity to and access to nature are really good for us.

“By caring for the habitats that wildlife depends upon, we’re also looking after our own wellbeing and the health of the planet.”

The council is inviting residents to comment on its draft Nature Recovery Plan, which sets out proposals to protect wildlife habitats in the town. Feedback can be submitted through the My Frome platform until 16th August.