When do kingfishers start courting?

[FUDGEY]

I'm hoping to get a shot of a male kingfisher passing a fish to a female, but not sure of how long before nesting this usually takes place. I know the female usually lays mid April at the nest I know so does anyone have any info on how long prior to laying the fish passing takes place? I'd be very grateful for any info, thanks.

[yorky]

Could be any time now though it seems that Kingfisher have taken a massive hit due to frozen waters and swollen rivers - or they seem to have around our way.
Best of luck in your quest - methinks you'll need it!!
You should also be aware that if you intend to photograph at or near a nest site, the Kingfisher is afforded the highest degree of legal protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. If you “intentionally or recklessly” disturb a Kingfisher (or any other Schedule 1 listed species) whilst trying to photograph it “in, on, at or near” the nest or whilst it has dependent young, and without the necessary Licence from Natural England, you may be committing a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 6 months."

Jack

[FUDGEY]

Thanks Jack, I've been photographing them all Winter and I'm aware of the legislation. What I'm not sure about is what distance is deemed "near" the nest? 100 yards? 500 yards? 1000 yards? Bit of a grey area to me that one.

[JeffH]

Hi Fudgey

Some pairs of Kingfishers have already started "courting" by now and fish passing takes place not only during courtship but also during the nest finding/digging/renovating; the egg laying and the incubation phases of breeding.

As to what distance is deemed "near" - no distances are laid down in the legislation as these will vary from species to species and even from site to site.

However, as most of the courtship and fish passing activity takes place within the nesting territory and often very close to the intended/actual nest site, in attempting to photograph a fish pass you will (in most cases) probably be sufficiently close to the nest to fall within the disturbance legislation contained in Schedule 1 and already referred to by Jack.

In other words and in my opinion, to be sure of not committing an offence you really do need a Licence if you intend to get close enough to a pair of Kingfishers to photograph them during the fish passing stages of their relationship.

Originally Posted by yorky

"......the Kingfisher is afforded the highest degree of legal protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. If you “intentionally or recklessly” disturb a Kingfisher (or any other Schedule 1 listed species) whilst trying to photograph it “in, on, at or near” the nest or whilst it has dependent young, and without the necessary Licence from Natural England, you may be committing a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 6 months."
Jack

By the way Jack, is that a direct quote from my website?

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers, Barn Owls & Avocets)

[FUDGEY]

Thanks Jeff, great info on both behaviour and the law, I'll take that on board and give that one a miss then. Another shot I had in mind was the fledglings on a branch being fed by one of the adults. I have a feeding station set up well away from the nest site where both adults come regularly to feed. I have went through over 1000 minnows in last 4 months feedingthem through the terrible weather. In the hardest of conditions one adult would eat 25 in a few minutes. Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't witnessed it several times. I have just built a stock up of another 1000 in the last week to help them through the nesting season and I'm hoping they bring their young to it. If I'm lucky I'll maybe even get the fish pass as both adults spend a lot of time in this area. Have you managed to get a shot of the adult feeding the young yet Jeff? And if so any advice would be greatfully recieved.