THIS extraordinary picture shows the intimate moment two kingfishers are caught mating.

Wildlife photographer Mark Hancox captured the stunning image near Droitwich.

Mr Hancox, aged 48, of Hartlebury, spent 13 hours in a specially-built hide to picture the birds.

“The pool is very popular with kingfishers at this time of year and I get some great pictures of them diving,” he said.

“'I noticed one male and one female kingfisher sitting close to each other all day and they kept returning to the same log.

“I took dozens of shots of diving kingfishers but was intrigued about these two birds who were obviously in the middle of a courtship.

“The female bird would fly away and the male would follow and gradually they would get closer and closer throughout the day and stay perched together for longer.

“The light was fantastic so I decided to stay for a few more hours and see what happened with this pair.

“I was astonished when the male hopped on top of the female and started flapping his wings so fast they were a blur.

“I kept taking pictures and was amazed when I saw the end result, it’s very rare to capture these beautiful birds mating.”

Kingfishers breed several times a year and chicks are fed for just four days before being pushed out of the nest while the adults start the next brood.