Project Kingfisher - welcome to my office.

 

Welcome to my office! - I have a number of portable hides, which allow me to get much closer to the action.

Two weeks ago, I received an invitation from a friend to explore her lake, where she had seen Kingfishers in the past. Needless to say, I did'nt need a second invitation and the following day, I was busy exploring the lake and identifying potential areas of interest.

Having spent a couple of days there, I had spotted Kingfishers and had a pretty good idea of where their favourite perches and hunting grounds were. So, armed with a portable hide, I set off for the far end of the lake, where a smaller feeder lake existed. This is where I had spotted the Kingfishers on a number of occasions and where I decided to set up the hide on the side of the lake, opposite a row of suitable perches, just 7 meters away!

I was really looking for some 'close up' shots, so set up my Nikon D500 body, with 500mm f4 prime lens, all mounted on to my Gitzo tripod and gimbal. - In any form of photography, the results will only be as good as the stability of the platform that your gear is mounted on. My set up, weighs in at around  6 kilos, so hand-holding it all day, was never an option!

This outfit weighs in at 6 kg, so a decent tripod is essential.

Once safely inside and 'out of sight', it only took a couple of hours for the first bird to arrive and although it did not stay long, it allowed me to rattle off my first sequence of shots.

An hours or so later and much to my surprise, I was treated to a visit from a Buzzard, which kept up my interest and gave me some good images. 

Sitting in a hide for hours on end, can be tedious, but visits from other creatures, makes it all worthwhile.

It's very easy to let your concentration lapse after a few hours, but motivated by the Buzzards visit, I set in for another long wait and knew that the Kingfisher would return at some point to reward my patience.

I always have a specific shot in mind and today, I was hoping to get an image of the Kingfisher with some prey. As the lake is full of Newts and Crayfish, and there are a lot of juveniles about at the moment, the odds were, that they would be on their current diet.

Kingfishers are a protected bird throughout Europe and it is essential to work within strict guidelines, to ensure that the birds are not disturbed in any way. Using a hide, is the only way to get close to them and hides should only be installed, whilst the birds are away from the area. In addition, it is essential, not to leave the hide, whilst they are nearby. This can result in me spending many additional hours in my hide, whilst waiting for the birds to leave, before I can safely show myself. As with all wildlife, their wellbeing should be our paramount concern!

On its next visit, the female Kingfisher duly obliged and landed with a young Newt, which it devoured in front of me!

It had been a good day and had confirmed that my choice of position, was a good one. I left for home after 6 hours in the hide and very happy with the results from day one!

Day two dawned dry, but overcast, but I was in position by 08.00 and looking forward to another productive day. Almost immediately, the female arrived again and commenced fishing, which included another Newt and a young Crayfish. If nothing else, they are getting a varied diet!

These are all of the female, who can be identified by the orange colouring to the lower mandible.

A pair of Grey Wagtails were next on the scene and kept me entertained for a good hour, with their wonderful song and impressive flight displays. These are beautiful birds with their yellow base to their abdomens, and nothing like as prolific as the Pied Wagtails (Black & White), which often frequent my garden.

Female Gey Wagtail above.  -  Male Grey Wagtail below.

It was soon time for the Kingfishers to return and this time, they were really feeling hungry!

This female took another Newt.

Kingfishers will usually stun their prey against a branch, or stone, prior to swallowing them.......This one was definitely not going to wake up!

I am always amazed by the quantity of food that these birds can eat at one sitting. This bird consumed at least 3 Newts and some of them were almost as big as she was!

It's always nice to experience a 'first', and this particular afternoon, that's exactly what happened, when this lovely little 'Spotted Flycatcher' turned up at the lake. Having never seen one before, I was aware that it was something different, but had to wait until I got home, to identify it on the internet.

A beautiful Spotted Flycatcher.........a 'first' for me!

The Kingfishers continued to stay around the area for a couple of hours and here are some additonal shots

I am usually too busy taking shots, to think about shooting video, but as the birds were staying in the area, here is a link to my 'youtube' channel. - It shows a video that was taken the same afternoon.  https://youtu.be/_k3O5Q5q6FM

I am going to leave the hide 'in situ' for a few more weeks and will return later to spend some more time with these stunning birds. In the meantime, I am off to the woods for a couple of weeks to concentrate on some nocturnal shots of Genets and Pine Marten.

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