Tweeters,
Bob Merrick and I observed 3 kingfishers yesterday (18 March 98) at the Coupeville (Island County, WA) wharf. There were two males and a female. The female and one male flew in and out of a hole in the mud bank near the foot on the wharf. Sometimes both were in the hole at the same time; at other times one or both were perched on a branch near the hole. The other male seemed to be trying to attract the female's attention by acrobatic flying close to her whenever she was perched. This was accompanied by loud rattling. There was no visible response by the paired male to this "flirting" activity.
It is our impression that active kingfisher pair bonding and nest preparation are occurring at this time along the shore of Penn Cove.
Bill Applegate
Oak Harbor, WA
applgate at whidbey.net