Kingfisher makes bee line for reserve shop beer

A kingfisher was snapped sitting on a can of beer after flying into a shop

A kingfisher caused a flap by making a flying visit to a National Trust shop.

The bird swooped into the shop at the trust's Wicken Fen nature reserve near Ely, Cambridgeshire, through an open door on Saturday.

It landed on a beer can and hung around long enough for a member of staff to take a snap.

A manager said other birds occasionally flew into the shop but no-one could recall a visit from a kingfisher before.

Staff at the Wicken Fen shop got into a flutter when a kingfisher flew in

"I wasn't in the shop at the time but staff said the kingfisher flew through an open door," said the reserve's visitor experience manager Isabel Sedgwick.

"I gather it stayed for about five minutes - long enough for someone to take a picture on a mobile."

She added: "We do sometimes get swallows, and other birds, flying in.

"But I don't think we've had a kingfisher before."

She said the bird left unharmed with encouragement from staff.

The Woodland Trust says seeing a kingfisher "always feels special"

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) website explains how kingfishers are "small unmistakable bright blue and orange birds".

"They fly rapidly, low over water, and hunt fish from riverside perches, occasionally hovering above the water's surface," says a website guide.

"They're vulnerable to hard winters and habitat degradation through pollution or poor management of watercourses."

The Woodland Trust website says seeing a "lightning fast and technicoloured" kingfisher "always feels special".