Filming Kingfishers

[Kneeny1]

First things first, HELLO!

Rite, i am about to start my masters course in zoology but before the summer break is over i want to make another wildlife film about the hunting behaviours of kingfishers.

I scoped out a tasty bit of river yesterday and spotted 2 kingfishers. I have also spotted a nest or at least a suspicious looking hole about 2 metres up the vertical muddy bank.

Rite basically today was a setting up day! I have made 3 perches for the birds around a central perch in the perfect place for them to feed. the perches are around 1m above the water which is between 6inches and 9inches deep. I have set up my hide about 5/6m away from the best perch which gives me a good view with enough space to pan etc.

I feel i should just point out that i do NOT have a license but as i am a good 750m away from any likely and unlikely holes in the bank i feel the risk of disturbance to any birds is minimal.

I spent 6 hours in the hide today hoping for a chance fly by of a kingfisher but alas no such luck. Although there are many small fish (fry) in the water bellow the perches tomorrow i will be adding a little ground bait to attract some more fish and hopefully make the place irresistible to the rambunctious little birds i intend to film.

If anyone has any suggestions about how i might improve my chances or anything like that then please feel free.

oooo before i forget here is my latest film and it will be along these lines that my kingfisher film will be. any questions welcome

Spider vs Beetle - YouTube

[Kneeny1]

Just about to head out to the river, a bit of a late start today as i had to go to the dentist.

Wish me luck guys!

[KentYeti]

I think you are going to need a lot of luck!

Trying to attract Kingfishers to a new perching location well away from their nest should minimise any disturbance to the birds. But whether they will come to you away from their existing and well used perching locations is another matter.

If you get short of any decent footage I would suggest you contact the RSPB at Rye Meads in Hertfordshire.

They have had a very good Kingsfisher breeding season and the last I heard was that one pair were about to start a third brood. They are the pair at the Kingfisher Hide. From which there is a medium distance view of the sandbank they nest in, plus one of their hunting pools. And being in a Reserve and a hide set up for the purpose I am sure it is OK to get film from within the Hide of the nesting Bank, although you will need a good telephoto lens! But please don't expect to be able to get any closer than the hide. They are a protected bird as you have yourself stated, and nothing must be done to cause disturbance to them. Especially whilst breeding.

I suggest you email/telephone Louise at the Rye Meads Center, (GOOGLE will find it for you), as she runs a blog and has been very enthusiastic about the Kingfishers this year. I found her very helpful when I went there a few weeks ago, as were all the staff.

Cheers,

Bryan

[miccro]

you might need bit of luck as said!

setting perches and getting them to use them can be tricky especially if they are feeding young as will not stray far from the nest hole. Also despite providing them with to your eyes the most ideal perch possible, they will sometimes think otherwise!

best thing to do is to get there before dawn or at first light and set the hide. watch for their 'flight paths' -they normally have set little routes. set a perch if you deem it safe for the birds and non-disturbing to the nest area along their flight path, sticking about 1m out from river bank- so very obvious to them.
-or watch to see which branches / perches they use to fish from- if possible film them on what they already use. Another good trick to use is to set accessory perches for them- set a perch within a few meters of one they already use, its a good way to get them to land as they often have a little panic if a dive goes wrong or manage a large catch -they will often fly to the nearest accessible branch to recover or dispatch of the little fish.

if feeding young and fishing close to the nest i found that they often fly directly to the nest after a catch rather than re-perching so in less luck.

they usually tolerate hides well, but good field craft is a must, make sure you have a good lens shade or film with the lens within the hide and not sticking out minimising reflections- also tape over the red record light if blinking on the front of the camera.

set the hide so the bird approaches the perch with the hide not directly in its line of sight/ flightpath.

if camo print fabric hide, set the hide if filming in mornings + evenings in low light so that the light illuminates the camo print to the bird utilising the camouflage, rather than setting it so that its just a large black silhouette.

other than that, hope for luck, dont be too discouraged, it might take them a while to find the new perches but if in good locations they will use them. i leave them up over night and quite common to spot them on them first thing the next day.

best of luck and let us know how you get on.

mike