Having come to the conclusion that  the only way to get some really good flight shots was to buy a new lens, when it arrived yesterday I was eager to put it to the test.  My theory was that because Kingfishers fly so quickly and because when I have them in front of my hide it's such a confined area, it was, and  still is, an impossibility to predict where they are going to fly to and even when you are correct,  they pass through the viewfinder and out of the shot in an instant. I worked out today that they fly at around 9 or 10 feet a second.  With a large lens it is not possible to track them in flight and then keep the camera focused.  The only way to do it is to predict where they are going to be and then fire the shutter on burst in the hope that you are going to catch them in the frame.  I reasoned that by using a wider lens rather than a bigger lens I would be able to see more of the scene in front of me and then be able to get the shot.  The other big factor is depth of field. With a large 500 mm lens at its closest focus distance, depth of field is really an issue with only a tiny part of the image being in focus and sharp at any one instant.  With a smaller lens  the depth of field in front of you is much broader and you are more likely to capture a sharp image.  I think this depth of field issue has probably been the main factor  preventing  me from getting the shot I am after.   Thinking  that a smaller lens set to 75 mm and at f 4.5 might do the trick, I bought one and fitted it to the camera.   That was yesterday and Murphy was at work because no Kingfisher came to the hide area to allow me to test the theory.  So today, with much anticipation, I returned and waited and waited and then waited some more, still no Kingfisher.  All kinds of things were going through my head such as, it had been predated, left for another territory, disturbed by dog walkers, disturbed by other wildlife enthusiasts and photographers, or even worse…… disturbed by me.  Imagine my relief then,when at around 1255 and after a wait of 2 hours and 15 minutes, at last there it was. I couldn't wait to photograph it and hoped that it would perform so that I could test the theory.  It was on a low branch just in front of me and I watched it look up to the log that I had rammed in to the edge of the water deep in to the mud.  This was where my knowledge of Kingfishers came in useful.  I have learnt that when fishing they like to get as high as the nearby structures and vegetation will allow and always choose to hunt from high vantage points like this. So when I could see his head pointed in the direction of the higher log, I knew he was going to fly up and he did just as I predicted.  The instant he left the Low branch I pressed the shutter and as I had pre-focused I knew that the only thing stopping me getting some kind of picture was enough shutter speed. Thankfully, in the time that it took him to take off and land a few feet away,  my camera was able to take 6 images and in two of them the bird was in the frame.  Success at last!   If you like the pictures then just remember…….. they cost £369…….. the price of the lens 

Notice how in this one, it's just not quite as sharp as it could be, a hard job this Kingfisher photography.

Again not 100% pin sharp but getting there.  Potentially this is a much more interesting image as the bird dives in to the water to catch prey.  If I am lucky there will be many more shots like this and hopefully I will be able to improve, perhaps not, when you consider the speed that all this is happening I have got to be happy with the results and of course I am.