My Kingfisher Obsession

Busby

Busby

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Anthony
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Over the last 10 days, I've put in over 25 hours observing my local Kingfishers.
Saturday and Sunday I was up at 5 am going home for lunch and returning in the afternoon.
I've also been making the pilgramige after work most evenings.

Last night I took the wife with me and something magical happend...
The Male KF, seemed to take a shine to her and spent a good minute or so ignoring it's prey in the lake and just staring at my wife from just a few feet away.
I was over the otherside of the lake and hurried around in time to get a few shots at a safe distance...

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After he flew away, I sat next to my wife and a short time later he returned with what seemed to be a renewed tolerance to my presence...

Kingfisher2800.jpg


:D Most likely all sheer luck, but I've manged to convince the wife it was all down to her.
I'm still after that "perfect" shot and I get cold and lonely by myself, so I forsee many more hours sat by the lake hopefully with a bit of company!

Thanks for looking,
Anthony.
 
Yes well done, dont see many shots of them.
 
Lovely. I can never understand why everyone's kingfisher shots come out this blue colour when the actual bird is turquoise. Most be something mother nature has that us mortals can't capture! ;)
 
I wish I had Kingfishers locally to obsess about! Well done. (y)
 
Excellent captures ... (y) ... wish I had your dedication to go visit the local RSPB where they cater especially for a number of breeding pairs ... :shrug: ... and other stuff as well of course ... :D






:p
 
First a bit soft, but second is a beauty.
 
:) Thanks everyone for your kind comments.

Janice, I think you're spot on.
I've got loads of shots from various angles and different light conditions and the degrees of blue vary tremendously.
 
Busby, I regularly go out (usually 3 days a week!) rotating between Reddish, Brabyns Park in Marple and at Happy Valley in Bramhall....if you fancy maybe getting a simple hide set up and a perch then wouldn't mind keeping you company! :) One from Reddish....there were THREE on the branch but one disappeared before I got chance to lift my camera up!!

kf.jpg
 
You have pm mate (y)

I have a couple of shots (not as good as yours) of the male and female together...

2kf.jpg


I've been taking hundreds of shots from long range which I find help me learn a little more about these beautiful birds.
Here the Male is killing it's prey by banging it on a branch...

fishkill.jpg


Nice to know that they're back in Brabyns and I know of another location in Marple where they're doing well also...

Anthony.
 
where is reddish vale and brabyns would like to try my luck there some day the second photo is best i think but im no expert well done
 
Busby said:
:) Thanks everyone for your kind comments.

Janice, I think you're spot on.
I've got loads of shots from various angles and different light conditions and the degrees of blue vary tremendously.
Click to expand...

Actually... it looks like the bright turquoise we are used to is the colour that is on its back and hidden when the wings are flat.... when they bomb down the river thats when we see the turquoise. Problem solved... ive not seen one sitting still! :D :LOL:
 
Apperently they are brown, it's the light refracting that causes the irradescance, at least thats what I'm told by the Slimbridge "expert"
 
Agger said:
Apperently they are brown, it's the light refracting that causes the irradescance, at least thats what I'm told by the Slimbridge "expert"
Click to expand...


But doesnt that mean that every bird is brown and its the light that makes them their colours? well basically I suppose thats how we see all colours.... light reflecting certain colours off things.... but sounds a bit odd :thinking:
 
Wow... I've never seen more than 1 at a time, anywhere. And then they are usually blue and orange blurrs
 
I've got a pretty good pic of 2 mating at Slimbridge,



IMG_0032.JPG


IMG_9161.JPG
 
Thanks for the kind comments everyone.

lilfatman said:
where is reddish vale and brabyns would like to try my luck there some day the second photo is best i think but im no expert well done
Click to expand...

Reddish Vale & Brabyns Park (Marple) are both in Stockport about 5 miles apart.
The river Goyt runs through both before joining the Mersey in Stockport town centre.
They've done a really good job of cleaning the river up in the last few years and that's the most likely reason for the quite large population of Kingfishers along it's banks.
I know that there is an abundance of Brown Trout in there now and there have been sightings of Otters on various stretches...Brilliant news, because Otters were once very common on the Chadkirk/Marple stretch.
 
Fabulous stuff ... and what a way to get your wife to accompany you on some outings. (y)
Ive not seen our local Kingfisher but Ive heard plenty of tales about his presence in the local park.. must try a bit harder me thinks!
 
InaGlo said:
Fabulous stuff ... and what a way to get your wife to accompany you on some outings. (y)
Ive not seen our local Kingfisher but Ive heard plenty of tales about his presence in the local park.. must try a bit harder me thinks!
Click to expand...

Certainly worth making the effort, especially if you have them local.
 
elusive and sought after bird for all us . Glad to see your hard work is paying off (y) Any chance of borrowing the wife for the weekend, i know where there are some kingfisher's :LOL:
 
My dream is to take a photo of a kingfisher. Never even seen one.
 
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