In late September 2009 a Belted Kingfisher flew south past my house near the east coast of Santa Maria. I scoured all the likely spots on the island but failed to relocate it. In early September 2012 my coffee break at the harbour café was rudely interrupted by a Belted Kingfisher arriving from the south-west. I dashed round to the mouth of the nearby São Francisco river and found it sitting quietly on the nearest giant reed. I need not have panicked  –  it stayed until early March!

Many of the African kingfishers are in fact woodland birds, like this Grey-headed Kingfisher, an arbiter of the coming rains in The Gambia. Malachite and African Pygmy Kingfisher favoured mangroves and freshwater streams.