Kingfisher hatchlings prove success of Cambridgeshire's 'bird hotel'

The electric blue flash of a kingfisher is one of the most exciting sights a British nature lover can enjoy: easily recognisable, but exotic and rare Photograph: Steve Magennis/Natural England

So there has been much excitement that, less than a year after it opened, a pair of these colourful fish-eaters has already started breeding at a new specially-designed bird 'hotel' near a reclaimed wetland Photograph: Steve Magennis/Natural England

The emerging guano (bottom right) signals which of the two specially designed kingfisher 'rooms' the couple has moved into, while the managers at the Cambridgeshire site wait for the remaining accommodation to be taken up by sandmartins Photograph: Natural England

The kingfisher suites – the first in the UK – mimic conditions where the birds would build nests in the wild: in small holes, just bigger than themselves, with a small depression to stop the eggs rolling out
Photograph: Natural England

The couple's first brood have been photographed by landowner and biologist Professor Tony Martin, at nine days old (top left), 14 days (top right), 17 days (bottom left), and 20 days (bottom right) Photograph: Natural England

At 24-25 days old, the chicks are usually ready to leave the nest, assuming their parents can find 12-18 fish every day for each fledgling – a job made easier by the four-year project to restore 25 hectares of farmland to wetland habitat. 'The presence of breeding kingfishers is recognised as an indicator of high quality wetland, so this first brood is great news for [the] site,' said Nigel Russell of Natural England, which helped fund the project Photograph: Natural England

Before they left their parents, usually only four days after leaving the nest, Martin tagged each of the first brood so experts can monitor where they move to and colonise for their own families Photograph: Natural England

Kids to feed: the parents will go on to have two more broods in the year, while their offspring begin their own families before their first birthdays. Elsewhere on the restored site, breeding avocet, redshank, lapwing, snipe, oyster catcher and black-tailed godwits have also been spied Photograph: Steve Magennis/Natural England