Kingfisher Diary (with photos)

[jamiewade94]

I dont really see many Kingfishers, but I would love to as they are magnificent birds.

[Ollie]

Excellent news Jeff and I look forward to the next episode
Roger

[Brocker]

I have just come back after spending a little time away from the fresh air and open spaces. Its ok, I havn't been to prison, I have, unfortunately been working and trying to establish where my employer has lost 23 million pounds last financial year. No pressure !!!!!!!
This diary and pictures are a real tonic Jeff. I am absolutley fascinated by what you are recording and can't wait for the next installment. It must be fantastic to have these lovely birds so close. I have been searching all winter for a sighting but so far to no avail. This just makes me want to get out there again and keep looking. Keep up the fantastic work.

[JeffH]

UPDATE - 9th March 2008

First of all thank you to - John, Richard (Richew), Bub-les, Dave (pressld2), Ian (Harimau1610), Pauline (PMG), aeshna5, Jamiewade94, Roger (Ollie) and Brocker for all your kind remarks and words of encouragement after my last update. I do, of course, realise how lucky I am to have such regular and close access to these marvellous birds and it's a real pleasure to be able to share some of the enormous enjoyment they give me with so many like-minded and appreciative people. I just wish I could invite you all along to come and see them in the flesh.

Anyway folks, it's been a truly remarkable weekend round at the nest site with all sorts of frantic activity going on. I've had two 4-hour long early morning sessions round there and the birds have given me some of the best birdwatching I think I've had in more than 30 years of birding. I hope I can give you a flavour of it.

Not only have the resident pair been busily renovating a nesthole they used about 3 years ago, but whilst doing so they've been steadfastly defending their territory not just against one intruder but TWO - a 2nd male and a 2nd female!

Needless to say, there's been lots of aerial activity with all 4 of them chasing around the site like mad and screeching at each other. In particular, the two males have been squaring up and scrapping mid-air whilst the girls sit by and watch the action. In between all this the resident pair have been taking it in turns to clean out the old nesthole with one bird standing guard outside whilst the other works in the hole.

I could write lots more about the birds' activities over the last couple of days but as they say 'a picture's worth a thousand words' I thought I'd keep the text quite short this time and show you more photos. Let me emphasise these are mostly quick-edits (and therefore not of the best quality) but with more than 500 shots to edit from just today and yesterday it's going to take me some time to get through them!

This first shot shows the resident pair near their new nesthole -



Same again here - do you think it's love at first sight?



"Does my bum look big in this?" - one of the birds working in the nesthole -



This sequence of 4 shots shows one of the birds taking a cleansing dip after emerging from the nesthole - these are my best shots yet of this particular activity -









and here's a few of my best flight shots yet -















and this one's the view that most people see of a Kingfisher -



Here's a couple of portrait-style shots from the weekend (I've got hundreds more of these and if anyone would like to see more there's a couple on the Gallery) - first a front view of the female -



and now one showing her beautiful back colouring (but with mud on her beak) -



Finally, many of you will know just how difficult it is to get even a half-decent shot of a Kingfisher in flight and will therefore understand how pleased I am to have got these shots of 2 birds in flight together, even though not of the best quality -







I hope you all enjoy them.

Jeff

[PMG]

You;re getting better with the flight shots - and that's no easy feat - the speed these birds wings go at is amazing - so well done I live in hopes with my garden pond but I think I will only see frogs - tho we have had a heron some time back!

Pauline

Oh and PS keep the diary coming too......... fascinating reading

[MagpieMick]

Hello Jeff,

Thought it was about time i said something so here go's...

The Kingfisher is one of my favourite birds and ever since a boy birder with some thirty odd years birding gone bye! Shhhh don't tell no-one that bit l'll delete that bit in a minute, the excitement of seeing such a fantastic bird and observing its/there behavior is just brilliant.

My Kingfisher patch is still flooded extending their territory tenfold and sightings are few so your thread is great reading and viewing..

We are all very envious of your Kingfishers !!!!

Mick..

[Ollie]

Another excellent installment Jeff with photos to match. Those in flight shots are excellent. As Pauline said no easy feat catching them in flight. Well done.
Roger

[VinceS]

Jeff, just like to say thank you for sharing your photos. Wildlife at its best, what a privilege to share your surroundings with something as beautiful as kingfishers. You must be gathering a tremendous amount of information both photographically and by observation of these birds with I imagine a tremendous amount of pleasure. Long may you continue to do so and share it with us.

Vince

[denn]

i have not yet contributed to this thread, but like everybody else, it has captivated me waiting in anticipation of the next post, jeff with your superb descriptions and pictures, i feel i know you and the location, it is i'm sure down to the tiniest details you describe so expertly, thanks a lot for sharing your experience with us, i await the next episode

[pressld2]

Well I'm just blown away Jeff!

The in flight shots are crackers and so are the bathing ones - it's brilliant to be able to see this behaviour documented so clearly. Love the one disappearing into the nest hole, too.

But I have to say that those two portraits are just gob-smackingly, drop-dead gorgeous. I think they are the best that you've posted so far and when you look at what's gone before that's really saying something!

Dave P.

[Bub-les]

All I can say is WOW
Barbara

[JeffH]

PMG (Pauline) - Thanks Pauline - I'm not quite there with the flight shots yet but, as you say, I'm certainly getting better and hope to improve further once the weather/lighting improves. Good Luck with the garden pond by the way .

MagpieMick - Thanks to you also Mick - I'd guessed that Kingfishers were one of your favourites from that avatar . Like you I saw my first one many years ago - nearly 50 years in fact, as a 9 or 10 year old boy growing up in the industrial north-west. A group of us were playing cricket near some marshy ground next to the Leeds and Liverpool canal (strangely enough only a few miles from where Pauline now lives/works ) when one flew by. None of us knew what it was at the time but I checked my Observer Book of Birds on getting home and have never forgotten that first sight of 'the blue flash'. I'm glad you're enjoying the Diary and I hope your local birds get through the flooding OK

PS. and I won't mention the 30-odd years thing -whoops

Ollie (Roger) - Cheers Roger

VinceS - You're welcome Vince, and you're right - the pleasure of studying these birds (and sharing the experience on WAB) is enormous. When I first became seriously interested in birds more than 30 years ago I read several books on single-species studies (eg. the Sparrowhawk) and remember thinking how boring it must be to spend hundreds of hours observing just one species. However, I now appreciate the pleasure of really getting to know a particular subject, and with Kingfishers the thrill of seeing one just never seems to diminish

denn - Thank you so much for your kind words - very much appreciated

pressld2 (Dave) - and the same to you Dave - I'm truly flattered by your generous praise . And yes I'm really quite pleased with those bathing shots and some of the flight shots.

Bub-les (Barbara) - Thanks Barbara - even after seeing these birds hundreds of time now I too still experience the WOW factor on every sighting

I'll post another update soon - thank you all again.

Jeff

[smartie]

What a pleasure to come back from a windy week on the north east coast to find this latest instalment. Brilliant as always.

[HARIMAU1610]

EXCELLENT

Ian

[Muggsy]

Originally Posted by pressld2

Well I'm just blown away Jeff!

Dave P.

and I think thats the reason more say little, but just sit in awe. I know I am.

(dunno if that makes sense now )

thanks anyway

[juliejam]

An excellent collection of photos..
You must be well pleased...

Keep them coming..


Julie

[aeshna5]

As everyone has said, it's wonderful to share all these moments of halcyon intimacy!

[Brocker]

Amazing pics Jeff. In fact awe inspiring. I have got more information reading your diary and looking at your pics than i could ever get from books. Congratulations on another outstanding episode and good luck with the next. . . . I, for one, can't wait.

[JeffH]

smartie - Thanks smartie, and how prophetic of you when in your first post on this thread nearly a year ago you said "...this one could run and run"

HARIMAU1610 (Ian) - Cheers Ian

Muggsy - you're welcome Muggsy, thanks and I do know what you mean

juliejam - and thanks to you Julie. Yes, I'm pretty chuffed with some of these latest shots but even more so that the birds are back and settling in for another breeding season

aeshna5 - Glad you're enjoying it aeshna. I guess I'm in a fairly unique position and it's a pleasure to share the experience with you all

Brocker - That's very kind of you to say so Brocker

Jeff

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Brocker

I have just come back after spending a little time away from the fresh air and open spaces. Its ok, I havn't been to prison, I have, unfortunately been working and trying to establish where my employer has lost 23 million pounds last financial year. No pressure !!!!!!!
.

dont stress , its probably down the back of the sofa

Jeff - excellent shots , have you thought about doing a magazine article for one of the photographic publications ? - I can give you some contact details for editors if you want.

[PMG]

Thanks for the good wishes for my pond Jeff - the heron is cheeky and game to come into the housing estate (modern-ish and some decent sized gardens - but still a housing estate - houses in offset rows with gardens side by side by side).

Alto Pennington Flash and golf course, the canal etc are very close we are never going to see a kingfisher here - not in a million years - tho they have nested less than a quarter of a mile away (in a daft spot) they will not fly into the estate - now if we had a stream/river running thro there would be a slight chance............

So afraid I shall have to keep track of and admire yours from a distance via the netty

Pauline

[JeffH]

Originally Posted by eeyore

Jeff - excellent shots , have you thought about doing a magazine article for one of the photographic publications ? - I can give you some contact details for editors if you want.

Yes please Pete - thanks for the suggestion (I've pm'd you)

and Pauline - "...now if we had a stream/river running thro there would be a slight chance............" - with the weather we're getting at the moment there's every chance

Jeff

[PMG]

Originally Posted by JeffH

Yes please Pete - thanks for the suggestion (I've pm'd you)

and Pauline - "...now if we had a stream/river running thro there would be a slight chance............" - with the weather we're getting at the moment there's every chance

Jeff

LOL If a stream appears down our road Jeff it means the canal bank has bust

Pauline

[JeffH]

Originally Posted by PMG

LOL If a stream appears down our road Jeff it means the canal bank has bust Pauline

but wouldn't it be worth it to get a Kingfisher in your garden -
I had to spend more than £5 grand on building two ponds and a stream to attract them into mine and goodness knows how much on fish stocks since then

Jeff

[John]

Hands up those that want a WAB meet in Jeff's garden.

John

Originally Posted by JeffH

but wouldn't it be worth it to get a Kingfisher in your garden -
I had to spend more than £5 grand on building two ponds and a stream to attract them into mine and goodness knows how much on fish stocks since then

Jeff