Photographing Kingfishers

[Chris_Johnstone]

I've been up and down some stretches of the Wye and the Arrow in Herefordshire for the last month or so. I've had plenty of sightings in both areas but I've never been able to get a shot.

I have a hide but find it a bit frustrating to use. I get in and I can't stop feeling that my view is so limited that it's impossible to know what's about me. Of the people that have successfully taken photos of these birds, can you please PM and let me know what you did to prepare, your equipment and how long you were there? I would be very grateful. I've clocked up about 50 hours in the hide and I'm beginning to wonder whether I'm doing something drastically wrong.

Any tips and ideas are welcome.

Chris

[GME]

Originally Posted by Chris_Johnstone

Of the people that have successfully taken photos of these birds, can you please PM and let me know what you did to prepare, your equipment and how long you were there? I would be very grateful.

Any tips and ideas are welcome.

Chris

I think we'd all like to know Chris! There are some guys who have got some great shots on here. I'm going to have a go tomorrow at a Wildlife Trust site near me where a Kingfisher regularly rests on a perch just in front of one the hides. Well, that's what I've been assured. Whenever I've been before i've seen them but too far away for a decent shot and they didn't use the perch
From what I've been told in the past though, Kingfishers use the same perches a lot of the time, so if you can find one of them, safely setup nearby without disturbing them and then wait it out camera focused on that point, that's maybe your best bet. I know of people who have set up their own perches as well, located their hide close by and had some success. I'm no expert though, unfortunately.

Good luck with it Chris, but if you get some good advice, share

Gareth

[ron1863]

Good luck. We have some on our local river but I only ever see them flashing past.

[sleipnerofasgard]

Went round my local patch,was all set up in the hide when the bird flew in ,hovred over the perch for a couple of seconds then decided to carry on to somewhere else ah well there is always tomorrow

[John D]

Originally Posted by ron1863

Good luck. We have some on our local river but I only ever see them flashing past.

Same here Ron. I never see them on a perch.
John D

[The Black Rabbit]

Originally Posted by John D

Same here Ron. I never see them on a perch.
John D

Two Kingfishers sitting on a perch.
One said to the other:
"Can you smell fish"?



I'll get me coat...

[deer boy]

Originally Posted by Chris_Johnstone

Any tips and ideas are welcome.

Chris

Find a nice quiet spot where u won't be disturbed by anyone,then put a perch up.
This can be an old tree branch for example,make sure it overhangs the river then sit back in your hide with your camera focusing on the branch.
If the kingfishers use the stretch of river they will use the perch u put up

[HowlinWolf]

Chris,

If you go the perch set-up route, bear in mind the background it will give you. There's nothing worse than getting the shot you are after, only to have it spoilt by a distracting back drop - however out of focus it is.. If it contains highlights, then the eye will immediately be drawn to it, detracting from the subject (although I suspect you know this, already). Obviously, they could be cloned-out, but at least make sure the colours will compliment the bird.

HW

[Chris_Johnstone]

Thanks for the tips guys, I've been doing most of what you've been telling me but I think it's just my patience running thin.

The very first time I was checking out the area, only to see if Kingfishers were about, I stuck a branch in the water and 3 hours later it was used for about 4 seconds. It was great but the stretch of the river is quite busy.

Need to get my head down some more. Sometimes I think 400mm isn't enough, sometimes it's soft too but that's another story.

Chris

[mh68]

Chris, if the margins where your perch is are shallow, try chucking some angler`s groundbait in to attract small fish such as minnows.If there are prey around the perch theres a good chance the Kingfisher will fish from it giving you more chance of some shots,as opposed to it just using the perch briefly before moving on.

Mark H

[Chris_Johnstone]

Got my groundbait too, tried it yesterday but without luck. I think I'm a bit unsure where I'm looking and I keep thinking I should look at other stretches of the river. Truth is I'm in the right place, I just need to stick it out.

When you come back from 10 hours without anything, you get a bit annoyed and start asking a lot of questions about what you need to do.

I think Okham's razor kicks in a bit.

Chris

[sleipnerofasgard]

Originally Posted by sleipnerofasgard

Went round my local patch,was all set up in the hide when the bird flew in ,hovred over the perch for a couple of seconds then decided to carry on to somewhere else ah well there is always tomorrow

As i said ,there's always tomorrow



And yet i'm still not happy

[Blackbrook Eye]

Originally Posted by Chris_Johnstone

When you come back from 10 hours without anything, you get a bit annoyed and start asking a lot of questions about what you need to do.



Chris

Try me again after ten weeks and I may be inclined toward a faint show of sympathy . I sometimes spend nearly ten hours just sleeping

Keith

[The Black Rabbit]

Please do bear in mind that if you are attempting to photograph Kingfishers, they are (or at least were, the last time I looked) a SCHEDULE 1 SPECIES.
This means if you are photographing them at or indeed "near" their nest (even accidentally), without a licence you are breaking the law.

NB.
"Near" varies amongst different sch1 species - but please, please do make sure you are nowhere NEAR any Kingfisher nest, with your camera, hidden, camouflaged, accidentally or not...

TBR

[Ákos]

I hope I may offer a couple of suggestions. I live on the other side of the globe and we also have these elusive little kingfishers. Though a different species. Alcedo azurea is the one that is similar to your UK species.

1) Find a good perch that you can set up along the flyways where you often see these birds. By good perch I mean a nice color, shape and perhaps even some pretty lichen growing on it. You can make a base for it similar to what I have just done and I went about by using a small (5-liter) bucket and placed a large dog food can in the center and poured quick-set concrete in leaving the can open with concrete on the sides holding it down.

2) Get a smaller can (any can) that fits just inside the large one (I have a good supply of cans as we have six cats, two dogs) and put your perch in it and pour the concrete into this small can. When it sets, you can slide it into the can concreted into the bucket. So you can make a few perch set-ups cheaply and exchange them so that your perches don't look boring and the same in every image. Just make sure the perch is almost bent to 90-degrees so you have an upright trunk then the perch off to the side!

3) Get a small net and catch some of the small fish that the kingifisher would live on and put them into the bucket under your perch that you had set up. Make sure the lip of the bucket is about 5cm above the water level or the fish will swim out!

4) Sooner or later your kingfisher will find this as you are already in your little hide waiting and should get some marvellous opportunities.

I read about the fish bait trick in a British Wildlife photographer's book - cannot remember the title. Sorry. The essence of the tip is there.

Here is a link to one of my iamges of our Azure Kingfishers in Australia, they are about 18cm long. rather small. this was a lucky capture, no hide was used, I was allowed to walk to about 7m away as it perched by my local river.

www.ausphotography.net.au

[Steve S]

Akos,

You've got some good ideas there for props, some of which will be useable for a whole range of birds. However, the most important info as far as I'm concerned is the link provided by TBR. In our enthusiasm for a nice photo we sometimes forget to think about the law. These restrictions are in place for a reason. I know Chris hasn't even suggested that he is anywhere near a nest site, (so I'm not trying to accuse anyone) but we would all do well to keep these sort of things in mind.

Steve.

[Ákos]

Steve,

Very good point there mate. Lucky for us, in Oz we have not too many restrictions and it is up the the ethics of an individual to observe 'appropriate' behaviors.

It is easy to understand why birds get all wound up about photographers. I have a friend in Hungary who says he is green at the fact that in Australia we can walk about (so he thinks) practically and take some nice images without an overloading need of effort. However, that has not stopped me from wanting to construct a floating hide.

No need to break laws. No image is worth upsetting the ecological balance.
we need to respect all creatures great and small.

Cheers
Ákos

[JeffH]

Hi Akos and welcome to WAB

The "fish bait trick" you refer to was described by wildlife photographer David Boag in his book 'The Kingfisher' published in 1982, a similar technique having been previously described in Rosemary and Ron Eastman's book of the same title published some 13 years earlier, though in both cases they actually used containers rather larger than "a bucket".

However and with all due respect to David Boag, the Eastmans and to you, it is a technique which in this enlightened age many consider simply too dangerous to employ.

The dangers of encouraging a Kingfisher to dive into any container (and particularly one as small as a bucket) must be obvious - should the bird clip and damage or even break a wing on entry or exit this could seriously impair its ability to fly and hunt or, worse still, could result in drowning

As we are now in the midst of the breeding season this could prove disastrous for an entire brood and, in my opinion, the practice simply cannot be condoned.

As you imply in the final paragraph of your 2nd post, in wildlife photography the wellbeing of the subject must always come first and no photo is worth endangering the subject.

As for your perch in a bucket tip, personally I wouldn't want to have to cart around too many 5 litre buckets full of concrete and, if I may say so, it sounds a little over-engineered (or are you a bucket salesman perhaps?)

What's wrong with simply sharpening the end of your perches and sticking them in the ground? Or, if the ground is too hard, I use a very short length of metal tubing (typically copper plumbing pipe) with one end flattened, which I drive into the ground at a suitable angle and into which I then insert the easily removable perch. It works for me

Finally, I would certainly reiterate what TBR and Steve S have said about the legalities of trying to get photographs of Kingfishers here in the UK and this is why I now intend, on advice, to include the Reminder you'll find at the end of this post in every post I make about Kingfishers in future.

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers and Barn Owls)

************************************************** ********
REMINDER
As a fairly rare and easily disturbed bird, 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 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.
************************************************** ********

[sleipnerofasgard]

Originally Posted by sleipnerofasgard

As i said ,there's always tomorrow



And yet i'm still not happy

i am a little bit happier

[Ákos]

Originally Posted by JeffH

Hi Akos and welcome to WAB

Thank you.

Originally Posted by JeffH

The "fish bait trick" you refer to was described by wildlife photographer David Boag in his book 'The Kingfisher' published in 1982, a similar technique having been previously described in Rosemary and Ron Eastman's book of the same title published some 13 years earlier, though in both cases they actually used containers rather larger than "a bucket".

However and with all due respect to David Boag, the Eastmans and to you, it is a technique which in this enlightened age many consider simply too dangerous to employ. The dangers of encouraging a Kingfisher to dive into any container (and particularly one as small as a bucket) must be obvious - should the bird clip and damage or even break a wing on entry or exit this could seriously impair its ability to fly and hunt or, worse still, could result in drowning

As we are now in the midst of the breeding season this could prove disastrous for an entire brood and, in my opinion, the practice simply cannot be condoned.

I remember the author of the book now. I am sure it was Laurie Campbell. And you make a good point about bucket size. I just want to add and should have worded more appropriately that a LARGE container it should be so that harm is avoided altogether, there are many large laundry tubs that can be used.

Did you see the David Attenborough documentary on the Life of birds where the large KF dives in to get a fish and you can see from below? And that was a LARGE species of kingfisher not the pooncy little ones your way and where we are. Obviously they employed a similar technique otherwise they would never have gotten the footage. Common sense is essential.

How many times have I seen a small KF dive into 40-50cm of water to catch a fish over a pebbly bottom in my neck of the woods? Many dozens if not over 100 times. They always make it in and out. Or maybe the Aussie ones are more street smart?

Originally Posted by JeffH

As you imply in the final paragraph of your 2nd post, in wildlife photography the wellbeing of the subject must always come first and no photo is worth endangering the subject.

Yes, I agree and maintain my own ethics to do just that.

Originally Posted by JeffH

As for your perch in a bucket tip, personally I wouldn't want to have to cart around too many 5 litre buckets full of concrete and, if I may say so, it sounds a little over-engineered (or are you a bucket salesman perhaps?)

Are you being funny? Or just built like Mr Puniverse? Perhaps the latter. My idea works for me and I personally have no problems carting one small concrete filled bucket to a site then placing it then carry the perch(es) in. That's why the world is a great? place for no two people will ever agree.

Originally Posted by JeffH

What's wrong with simply sharpening the end of your perches and sticking them in the ground? Or, if the ground is too hard, I use a very short length of metal tubing (typically copper plumbing pipe) with one end flattened, which I drive into the ground at a suitable angle and into which I then insert the easily removable perch. It works for me

Works for you that is great.

Originally Posted by JeffH

Finally, I would certainly reiterate what TBR and Steve S have said about the legalities of trying to get photographs of Kingfishers here in the UK

By all means I do not wish to encourage anyone to break any rules. I guess the world is full of people that don't care about any rules or codes of conduct. Hopefully the photographic world has not many of those.

[Steve S]

Whatever you do to photograph kingfishers, don't do what this guy did.

www.naturephoto.hu/home/index_eng.html

Steve.

[djackso]

That's just sick.