Kingfishers

I took these images of the Kingfishers at Potomos Liopetri during my visit in October 2013. Using the car as a mobile hide I was able to get very close to these birds as they fished amongst the fishing boats in the river.As this is my last post of the year I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all a great Christmas and Prosperous 2014.

Those Cyprus Blues Again

During my holiday in Cyprus I had some close encounters with this family of Kingfishers at Potomos. The Kingfishers used the the river to fish and could often be seen perching on ropes, small fishing boats, poles etc allowing for some close up views. The river is a small working fishing port and despite the proximity of the many working fishermen attending to their boats, mending nets etc the Kingfishers were often seen flying up and down the river and diving for fish.

Last of The Kingfishers

These are the last of the photos of the Kingfishers that I have been taking at Rye Meads Nature Reserve. They were taken in the last three weeks during a couple of visits there. As usual on the day when it was dull,overcast with difficult light the Adult Kingfisher came and perched on a branch very close to the hide and the morning I went when there was a beautiful blue sky and sunshine they perched on the furthest pole. Anyway i've done the best I can and can't complain as I only saw a Kingfisher for the first time last year and took my first photograph of one in March this year. The adult Kingfishers on the Reserve have done very well this year having three broods of chicks so the River Lea should have no shortage of Kingfishers in 2011.

Rye Meads

I went back to Rye Meads Nature Reserve ealier this month to catch up on the Kingfishers who had started to feed their second brood. As you can see from the photos the lake was full of green algae which I presumed had developed from the extremely hot weather we experienced then. On this partcular day both adults were extremely active collecting fish for their brood and eacxh other.

Back With The King

Not quite the return of Elvis but decided to go back to Rye Meads Nature Reserve to check on the latest news of the nesting Kingfishers. According to reports at the Reserve the pair have been feeding their chicks so there has been plenty of activity with both male and female Kingfishers busy feeding their young. I saw plenty of activity at the nest site during my visit early in the week with both male and female busy bringing in fish to the nest. There were plenty of photo opportunities and I managed to capture a few images of them sitting on a pole having caught a fish. The light was however still quite difficult and fustratingly the Kingfishers seemed to prefer to sit on the pole that was closest to the nest and a long way from the hide so the images could have been sharper. As it was a very hot day both Kingfishers also spent some time diving into the water to either cool off or drink and I tried a couple of flight shots which I have included but I feel did not really come off. [I'm sure Bob would have nailed them]. The young Kingfishers are expected to fledge over this weekend and it is usual for their parents to only feed them for up to 3 or 4 days after this has happened. There may be better photo opportunities next week if the young can be persuaded to perch on the pole closest to the hide. The other exciting news from the Reserve is that this pair of Kingfishers aleady seem to be exploring another nest site so their is hope that there may be a new brood of young Kingfishers in the coming weeks.

Kingfisher Blues Part 2

Following my earlier trip to Rye Meads nature reserve I travelled up there again on the 17th April hoping to add to my images of the Kingfishers there. The day was bright and sunny and this is reflected in the above images. There was however less action with the male and female Kingfishers taking it in turns to sit on a pole in the middle of the lake about 50 metres away. For good measure I have included a flight photo which was almost taken at the correct speed and an image of a Kestrel with what looks like a freshly caught vole taken back to its specially constructed nesting box. Incidently this box has been placed about 50 metres above the sandbank constructed for the Kingfishers lets hope there is not a nasty twist in this particular story.

Kingfisher Blues

At the beginning of 2010 I set myself two target birds to photograph during the year.The first was a Sparrowhawk the second a Kingfisher.Last weekend I managed to achieve one of my objectives by photographing a pair of Kingfishers. I travelled to Rye Meads a RSPB nature reserve which is just up the A10 from Enfield. At the Kingfisher hide it is possible to photograph Kingfishers as it overlooks an artificial sand bank that was created to encourage Kingfishers to breed. A pair of Kingfishers have been observed breeding at the site and exploring the sandbank as a possible nest site. As you can see from my images which were taken on Sunday 11th April I managed to capture the male Kingfisher bringing a present in the form of a fish for his female mate. Whilst I am fairly pleases to have captured these images I had to put on my 2x teleconverter on my Sigma 300mm f2.8 lense to get close enough and this and poor light may account for a lack of sharpness on a couple of the images. Now does anyone know a camera friendly Sparrowhawk preferably in Cornwall.