Whenever I see a Kingfisher it excites me, and that’s an understatement. So when she arrived today I was thrilled and excited to say the least.
Most regular readers of my Blog will know of my Kingfisher obsession and the time I spend trying to photograph them. I have gone to great lengths to make it happen. Firstly, I have set up a rudimentary hide by the side of my local brook and in spite of the knowing looks from the dog walkers and local people who see me, who all think I am mad, I spend countless hours watching just a few square feet of water and the perches there. I was ill this morning, no other way to describe it, I sat at home suffering with pain caused by gall stones. I wanted to get out and about but I needed to wait until the pain subsided, eventually it did ease and I was able to go to the hide having figured out that sitting quietly in there was just the same as sat in the arm chair! I made it without too much drama and sat down comfortably. It went through my mind that there wasn’t a lot happening, but all I needed was a bit of patience, in fact that’s pretty much all anyone ever needs! After a while a Grey Wagtail showed up, great I love them! Then there was the Wren that I have been seeing, he obviously calls this little patch home as well. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye, there she was, smack on the perch as you can see. It’s been 13 days since she last perched in front of me, thats long enough for me to realise how lucky I was again. In fact it had already gone through my mind that I shouldn’t take it for granted when she did eventually show up. I took a couple of photos and she dived to catch a small stickleback, then landed on a perch below the original one. I tried to “swing” the lens on to her but I am sure this disturbed her, and she was gone! Was I disheartened? Well, yes, but I decided to stick it out, the light was good, I was comfortable and it was quiet with no dog walkers.
The birds came thick and fast, more Wagtails and the Wren bathing just opposite gave me lots to see and photograph. What happened next was almost surreal. If you are interested in birds and photography and I guess you are or you wouldn’t be reading this, it doesn’t get better. More than an hour had gone by and I had spent the last 10 minutes photographing a female Wagtail who was bathing and then preening, she was on a great perch nearby and was there long enough for me to experiment with “depth of field settings and various shutter speeds and other camera adjustments, trying to get the best out of the opportunity. Then I noticed the Wren on the edge of the brook and just opposite, then right on the perch next to the Wagtail was the Kingfisher again, this time with a silver fish but she had gone before I could photograph her, then instantly a Pied Wagtail landed on the Kingfisher perch. I photographed him and when he had gone……. 30 seconds later he was replaced by the Kingfisher again who this time decided to stay long enough for me to photograph her properly. What a great few minutes.