Kingfisher Diary (with photos)

[Ollie]

Good to hear from you again Jeff. Excellent report backed up by stunning photos.
Roger

[big bill]

Congratulations on your articles and excellent pics on the kingfisher its one bird I would love to photograph.I know there is a couple on our river but its finding them without disturbing them.Thoroughly enjoyed your post keep it up thanks

[pressld2]

Jeff, so glad you're back and here's hoping your domestic worries are all behind you.

And what a stunning return! Some truly outstanding jaw-dropping photos and a rivetting read as always. Have you thought about approaching a publisher with this work?

Dave P.

[rlchew]

Welcome back Jeff .... I sincerely hope that the problems you and your family have had are now resolved.

It is good to have you and Kingfisher Diary back. What an excellent post and supported by some brilliant pictures as always.

Richard

[colincurry]

Superb Jeff and best wishes.

Colin

[Muggsy]

just awsome, everything about this thread, top banana.

Muggsy

[Jez]

I'm a newbie to this thread and what an excellent one at that!!! One your so lucky to have them. 2 the good news that the site is being treated as a conservation area for the King fishers. Excellent birds to see if only i could get the chance to watch them more than i get! Superb photos too. Long live the Kingfisher Diary

[jennyb]

Jeff, many thanks for bringing us up to date on an amazing story. I was wondering what had happened to you. I hope all the personal problems are now sorted and look forward to next years diary!

Jenny

[Bettedaviseyes]

WOW Jeff!!!
What a brilliant read ...BORING??? I think NOT!!!! Thank you so much for the update,Im now going to have a look at the Barn Owls,brilliant read,well done for bringing the Kingfishers to all of us not as lucky as yourself in having these beautiful creatures near them!!!

Move over Bill Oddie.....Jeff H should be on Springwatch!!!!...but with better skin! x

[Wolfhill]

Hi Jeff, first of all what a fantastic thread, I loved reading every word of it. The photographs are fantastic, I love the behaviour shots like the mating; for me the behaviour makes the shots a cut above the rest. I especially enjoyed reading the thread and hearing about the behaviour of these birds as unfortunately there aren't too many of them up these parts, I found it to be most informative. Also good luck with the Barn Owls
Fergus

[JeffH]

Thank you all (too many to name individually) for your generous praise and for your kind thoughts - I'm delighted that this thread has been so well received and still attracts such interest from both old and new WAB members alike.

As my current Schedule 1 Licence from Natural England runs through to the end of October 2008 I hope to continue monitoring and photographing the birds at their nest site again next year (but perhaps not quite so obsessively ).

In fact, with the landowner's consent I've recently been clearing some of the banking on the island to create more suitable nest sites - they like sheer vertical banks with little or no foliage and few tree roots to obstruct their tunnelling. This involved some fairly precarious work right on the water line but thankfully I managed to keep my footing and get the work done without a soaking

Hopefully, come early/mid-February they'll be pairing up again for another season. In the meantime, it's costing me a fortune to maintain the small fish stocks in my garden ponds - it's money well spent though

Originally Posted by pressld2

And what a stunning return! Some truly outstanding jaw-dropping photos and a rivetting read as always. Have you thought about approaching a publisher with this work?

Dave P.

You're not the first to ask/suggest this Dave and although there are currently no books on Kingfishers in print in the UK (and I've got lots more material and photos), I'm not yet convinced that there's sufficient interest in the subject to warrant another one. I'll see how thing go next year and then re-consider.

In the meantime, in addition to having some of my photos published in the local newspaper, in a leading international photographic magazine and even one as the main photo on the home page of the BBC's 'Natures Calendar' website earlier in the year, I've sold a few locally and a local picture framer has suggested an exhibition. I've also been invited to give a talk/photo presentation at a local camera club and a local conservation group but there just aren't enough hours in the day. Perhaps I'll have time to pursue all these things in retirement in a few years time

Jeff

[smartie]

As others have said, it's lovely to have you back with us. Hope your domestic life is back on track. Thanks so much for updating us on the kingfishers, and for showing us some more stunning images. I'm looking forward to next year already.

[Ron C]

Hi Jeff, I come back to this site every now and then to check if you had posted any more news in your Kingfisher diary enjoyed it a lot, and your photos are outstanding,

I have had a interest in the blue flash for some time and last spring was going to start filming them on a small local river (not at the nest site) that runs through a wildlife trust area but the weather we had last spring and part of the summer put a dampener on that season.

I hope this years pairing will be successful, as I plan to make up a feeding station similar to Dave Boag constructed for his great shots, and talking of books isn’t that one a cracker.

I cant put up a permanent hide so I use a camo fishing umbrella with a screen and erect it the evening before.

Ron C

[JeffH]

Thank you smartie and Ron C for your kind words - I'm glad you continue to enjoy the Diary.

I wish you well with your filming project Ron and yes, David Boag's book is excellent, especially when you consider it was published nearly 26 years ago -I certainly learned a lot from it.

Having said that, Paolo Fioratti's more recent work of 'only' 16 years ago has, in my opinion and although pre-digital, the best quality photographs of any of the Kingfisher books published to date and many of his shots were taken with Hasselblad cameras.

Hmmm....perhaps it is time for a Kingfisher book with digital images

Jeff

[Brocker]

Jeff,
I have to say, a book with the subject of the diary of a kingfisher sounds like an absolutely great idea. . . With the amount of interest in ornithology, coupled with an interest in British wildlife behaviour and adding to that mix, some of your outstanding photos and narrative, sounds like a dead cert to me. I would certainly buy one and I am sure that there would be many , many others. . . .

[NickCantle]

Jeff,

No other way to say this; What was at quarter to eight a boring and slow evening has now turned into an intruiging, inspiring and truly magnificent one. I'm studying photography at the moment and you might have seen me floating about in the Fungi forum but I generally check the other threads out where possible and all I can say is that I'm disappointed that I didn't see this thread sooner. I can safely say that this has made my evening Jeff. To see a character with so much passion and interest in his photographic subjects is such a fascinating and inspiring thing. I can't quite convey my feelings about this in words as I'm just simply gobsmacked. The Kingfishers certainly are magnificent, beautiful birds and you've managed to portray one of our most stunning birds in such a way to make us realise how beautiful it is. I don't think I'll ever look at a Kingfisher the same way. As aforementioned, I'm a photography student and I hope to go into some aspect of nature photography . Your work is truly outstanding. Keep it up and I look forward to more images with eager anticipation.

You've truly inspired me Jeff...

Thanks,

Nick

[Brocker]

Complete and total agreement Nick. . . . . .

[NickCantle]

I'm glad Chris

[JeffH]

Many thanks for your encouraging words Brocker.... I'll put you down for a copy then

Originally Posted by NickCantle

Jeff,
No other way to say this; What was at quarter to eight a boring and slow evening has now turned into an intruiging, inspiring and truly magnificent one. I'm studying photography at the moment and you might have seen me floating about in the Fungi forum but I generally check the other threads out where possible and all I can say is that I'm disappointed that I didn't see this thread sooner. I can safely say that this has made my evening Jeff. To see a character with so much passion and interest in his photographic subjects is such a fascinating and inspiring thing. I can't quite convey my feelings about this in words as I'm just simply gobsmacked. The Kingfishers certainly are magnificent, beautiful birds and you've managed to portray one of our most stunning birds in such a way to make us realise how beautiful it is. I don't think I'll ever look at a Kingfisher the same way. As aforementioned, I'm a photography student and I hope to go into some aspect of nature photography . Your work is truly outstanding. Keep it up and I look forward to more images with eager anticipation.

You've truly inspired me Jeff...

Thanks,

Nick

Wow, steady on there Nick - I can feel myself blushing , but thank you for your generous words and I'm delighted to hear that my work with our local Kingfishers has inspired a student of photography. For me, that is high praise indeed and I wish you well with your studies and for a successful career in nature photography.

Jeff

[JeffH]

UPDATE (28th December 2007)

Not a great deal to report I’m afraid, except to say that our local birds remain active in the area with regular visits/fishing trips to our garden ponds.

I had a walk around their nesting territory last weekend only to find that the main area of water was completely frozen over making fishing impossible for them. I like to think that at times like this my garden ponds (which remain largely unfrozen due to a continuously running air pump and stream) provide them with something of a life line.

In my quest to get some decent photos of the birds diving for fish I’ve had my dome hide in place right by the side of my main pond for several weeks now, the idea being that whenever I’m out in the garden for any length of time I set up my camera gear in the hide ready for action. As the birds normally call on their approach to the garden via one of only two regular fight paths (as if seeking permission to land ), if I’m out in the garden and hear a call I then dash back to my hide in readiness .

As you can imagine this can be quite disruptive to a day’s gardening activities, with me making regular sprints to my hide from every corner of the garden only to reach my hide breathless and, more often than not, with the birds not even making an appearance having doubtless spotted the silly old fool that I am running around the garden .

Equally frustrating is when one of the birds decides to visit but without calling out and just appears silently on one of the perches, dives for a fish and then flies off with it whilst I watch from the shed, greenhouse or some other part of the garden well away from my camera .

However, the most frustrating but amusing incident to date happened about 3 weeks ago and demonstrates what wily and opportunistic creatures Kingfishers are – I had been out in the garden for some time clearing up the remainder of this year’s fallen leaves and had already made several dashes to my hide on hearing one or other of the birds calling as they passed by, through or flew into the garden.

Later in the day I decided to do some maintenance work on my raised pond, which feeds the stream flowing down to my main pond and which I now use as a stock pond for small fish. In order to prevent the Kingfishers clearing out my small fish stocks in only a few visits (as they did over a few days last winter) I now keep this pond covered with netting supported on two wooden frames made for the purpose. This also ensures that whenever the birds visit they come down to the larger pond nearest to the house and where my hide is positioned.

On this particular day I had removed the two net frames and stood them up on their sides whilst I worked in the pond clearing out leaves, etc which had got through/under the netting. As I did so I heard the now familiar call of an approaching Kingfisher and made the short run to my hide in a matter of seconds, this time getting in before the bird arrived and quickly setting up my camera in readiness for it to land on its usual perch just 7 or 8 feet away and then to dive for a fish right in front of me. The light was good and using my 100mm f/2.8 lens I felt confident of getting a good sharp shot of the bird’s diving action as it hit the water.

But these birds are smarter than me – as it flew over my raised pond on its usual flight path it obviously spotted that the nets were off and in fact landed on one of the net frames stood up by the side of the pond, from where it made two successful fishing dives in quick succession before flying off again without even coming down to the lower pond some 40 feet away and from where I was left to watch the action with only my 100mm lens available. How annoying (but, on reflection, funny ) is that.

Anyway, here’s a shot of the bird perched on one of the net frames designed and built to keep them out of the pond – such irony. I’m sorry about the quality but it’s obviously been heavily cropped having been shot with a 100mmm lens from a distance of about 40 feet.



The female bird outwitted me yet again this very morning – just as my wife and I were sat having a cup of tea on a settee near one of our patio doors overlooking the pond, in she flew and landed on the perch. Within seconds she spotted and successfully dived for a small fish and flew off with it – all before I could even get off the settee and grab my camera . However, she was back a little later and by this time I had my camera ready and managed to get a few half-decent shots, albeit through the window glass – here’s a couple of them.







Finally, within the next 6 weeks or so our local pair should be ‘renewing their acquaintances’ in their nesting territory and I’ll let you know as soon as I see any signs of renewed nesting/breeding activity. In the meantime a Happy New Year to all WAB members and Good Luck with your nature watching during 2008 .

Jeff

[glsammy]

Nice one again Jeff.

Some more lovely shots, it's good to see the birds are making you work for them though. You can't have it too easy!

One day you'll get them diving, and what a shot it should be!

I think I can see the evidence of Neat Image on some of those shots, your background look spot on!

[John]

Excellent update Jeff. I can well imagine you running around like a headless chicken in the hope of getting that shot.

Don't worry, it will come and we will all benefit from seeing it. (Mind you we have already seen a few moment stopping images already.)

I think I can speak for most on here when I say that this thread is fascinating stuff to read and I always look forward to the updates.

Happy New Year Jeff to you and your family. Here's hoping for a successful year on all fronts for you, especially with the Kingfishers.

John

[aeshna5]

Great shots again Jeff. At least with all that jumping up + down + running for the camera the calories from those mince pies should be dropping off!

Fingers crossed for a successful 2008 season for your halcyon birds.

[HARIMAU1610]

looking forward to breeding time reports in the spring Jeff. Lovely shots and a Nice mossy perch.

Ian

[mrs fish]

They are lovely shots, the background makes them look very good