I have put in a massive amount of time this week in the hope of getting a "special" shot of a Dipper. I have to say that so far I have been defeated. I am pretty sure , but not absolutely certain, that my camouflage is good because the bird doesn't seem to worry about being opposite to me and near, but whenever I try to predict where it is going to land, and then position myself accordingly, it just is not happening. The photo opportunities are just so good though, so I keep waiting in the hope that eventually I will be successful, and I am sure I will. There is going to be some more waiting though. Today i put in another 3 hours with only shots from 20 feet or so, and I want the bird 5 feet from me! It is good to watch him though, he is very interesting and I feel privileged to live in a part of the world where they are found. As I sat under cover today a Spotted Flycatcher came and perched opposite and I snapped off a couple of shots for the record. At first I thought it was a young Robin but I quickly realised that I was watching a Flycatcher.
He landed on here and then caught a fly and returned to the same perch as they are known to do. I think this one is a juvenile. Young birds that were hatched in the spring and summer this year are now known as first winter birds.
So back to Dipper. Here are just a few of the ones taken today.
As you can see, they are all a bit grainy due to the bad light yet again. They are a hard bird to photograph and the more a try, the more I realise it.
The Grey Wagtail was around again and took a bath in the River giving me the chance to experiment a little bit.
The day started with a session in the flooded brook hide and a wait to see if the Kingfisher(s) were still in the territory. I am glad to say that the water had retreated a bit and was only a little higher than normal, yesterday my hide had been inaccessible but when I went at 7 this morning the conditions were good. Unfortunately, no perching KF but a fly past in both directions. I came home at around 8.15 and the sun was still shining even though the scaremongers at the BBC had given me the impression that we were in for a downpour to beat all downpours. Well in actual fact it has been a very pleasant day with lots of sunshine.
This is the River Teign and the venue for some great Dipper watching. It is a beautiful, tranquil and peaceful place, Devon at it's very best. I have been on 5 consecutive days and only once have I seen anyone else. Today was extreme! I am trying with everything I can muster, to get within feet of the resident Dipper but he keeps making the opposite decisions to me. On Sunday he was on the right of the river (above) and I was on the left bank. Yesterday, I therefore "camped" on that side and then he was mostly on the left bank, and the same today. I spent from 9.30 until 13.50 in that area and still didn't manage to get really close to him. I watched him for ages, within photo range, but not close enough for that "amazing" shot that I am after. At one point I was laid completely concealed under a camouflage cape and camouflage netting with the camera poking through a hole that gave me a clear view to the rock that he was perched on. I was warm and cosy as well so all though it seemed a bit extreme it was actually OK. That will definitely be something I do again because I think the the low profile will get me closer. So, there I was hoping that he would come to the rocks a bit nearer, he didn't but I did get this quite nice shot of him.
After an hour or two laying on the far bank I decided to have a change and moved over to the opposite side. I sat very still under the "hide" and waited patiently and you know? He didn't come back to this spot while I was there, very frustrating. I know that the camouflage is working though because this nice Grey Wagtail came up very close. Also down the river about a hundred yards was a Heron which then flew up the river and very close to me.
My Dipper watching was rewarding today. The river was in real spate with lots of previously exposed rocks now totally submerged, so the idea of knowing which rocks he was going to prefer has gone out of the window somewhat. What I did discover though, was the preference for the shallows when he was feeding. Unfortunately I chose the opposite side to "set up camp" today and my focus of attention was going to be only feet from the rocks he had been on yesterday. It didn't work out that way unfortunately and I am still trying for that real close-up.
This slight "reddish hue" in the this picture is called Chromatic aberration and is caused when the camera lens can't cope with the extreme brightness of the whites caused by the glare on the water. This is a good example of how hard it is to get good photos in these conditions.
Perhaps the best Dipper photo so far..... we are almost there but keep checking back, it's going to get better.
Dippers are incredible birds, and the more you study them the more apparent this becomes. I will only be able to report about the bird I am currently concentrating on, but that's the way it should be, rather than recycling old information from another source, unchecked and therefore possibly ( and quite often), inaccurate. Our bird has a territory of a couple of hundred yards, on a fast flowing, clean river that is quite shallow in places and tumbles over numerous boulders and waterfalls with pools and glides. The bottom is gravel rather than silty mud. I have seen this bird in the same area on 4 consecutive days. He, or maybe she is always in the exact same area and uses the same boulders and rocks to settle, obviously he knows the area well and has favourite perching places. Watching him feed is an amazing sight. In the shallows he literally walks along the bottom of the stream, almost always with his head pointing in to the flow. This is interesting and fun to watch but yesterday his feeding behaviour, and my appreciation of it, took on a whole new level. Flying to exposed boulders in the fastest part of the flow, where the strength of the water was at it's strongest, he literally submerged himself for seconds at a time and allowed the water to totally cover him. What amazed me was the way he remained static in the same position and was not washed down stream with the very fast flowing current. This behaviour went on for several minutes as he searched his prey. He would then flit to the next likely looking spot and repeat the behaviour.
His plumage is obviously very well cared for because each time he emerged totally dry as the water tumbled off his back. His plumage is interesting. He has a bright, clear and clean white breast which extends to the belly, here there is a band of rich chestnut brown changing to a dark, almost black under the tail. The rest of the plumage is a very dark chocolate brown, and dependant on the light, almost black apart from a lighter browner hue on the head. Each feather on the back is delicately fringed with a lighter colour which is more pronounced on the edge of the wing coverts forming a very narrow wing bar.
If you look at the pictures posted yesterday you will get a much better idea of this bird's behaviour.
Two different Kingfishers on a lovely morning..... and then Dippers from a late morning session.
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I went to the hide at 7 with a young man, Alex who's Gran is a friend of ours. He was described as a photographer and he wanted to get some KF photos, who wouldn't? He was incredibly lucky because we had the rarity of not one but two different birds. The first arrived with hardly a wait and perched nicely for us, then left to fish elsewhere. It returned quickly with a little fish and Alex too some great photos. Then, after we had waited for a while, who should turn up but the original female who put on her show for us. This included her usual early morning ablutions. Alex was n extremely mature and articulate young man who knew the ins and outs of his camera far me than me and I enjoyed listening to him and sharing the wonderful Kingfishers. The one above is a young male, note the all black beak and below is the female. I am very pleased with this photo, both are cropped by the way.
A Jersey Tiger Moth in the garden at 9 this morning.
Moor/More Dippers
I know that I am going to get much better photos of this Dipper, but I thought I would post these from late this afternoon and early evening. This bird has a territory and I have seen him , or could be a her. on three days running. I am getting to know it's habits and favourite rocks. Yesterday it had come very close to me but I made a total hash of the photos to be honest. So having thought it through a bit since, I went back and had the camera set up in a better way. However, he wasn't quite so accommodating today and didn't come to my side of the River. The photos are acceptable though, and even though they have been cropped, are probably the best Dipper images that I have got so far. I have not been feeling my best today, some kind of virus thing but I have tried to ignore it and get on with things. My Kingfisher was a no show this morning, apart from a noise flash by, so I know she is still in the territory. Talking of Kingfishers there was one out on the Teign today, again another noisy fly by.
You may have read that yesterday I went out to the River Teign to look for a good place to photograph Dipper. It went well and I found a good spot where not only was there a resident Dipper, but a good place to put a hide to get some photos. I haven't taken good photos of Dippers before, well I haven't really applied myself up until now. Today was a pretty miserable affair with, if not actual rain, a real threat of it. It seems that in other parts of Devon we must have had some heavy showers because when I got to the river, areas that were dry yesterday, were now under a raging torrent. I had to seriously re-think my plans but carried on down the river to the place that I had seen a bird yesterday. When I rounded the bend there he was, in exactly the same place as yesterday! My hopes of success were high. It was a struggle getting there though and I tried hard not to fall in the fast flowing water, that would have put an end to the photo session........ well it would have put an end to me as well, and I didn't want to succumb before I had taken the photos! I have to say that some things do get more difficult as you get older, like actually getting your legs to work for example. Anyway, I made it to a likely spot to "pitch camp" and I had a good plan. I sat myself down on the wet ground and tucked myself amongst the roots of a massive tree. I covered myself with the camouflage netting and disguised myself even more by wrapping a camouflage face veil around my head as well. It was quite cosy, I wasn't cold and the noise from the waterfalls was hypnotic. It was about as wild an experience that you could get here in the UK and I was loving it. All I needed now was a Dipper but that didn't seem to matter really because it was so pretty, tranquil and quiet apart from the water noise of course. As usual, I wasn't expecting my camouflage to work, I don't know why I have such little faith because even before my backside was numb, there he was just 5 or 6 feet from me as if attracted by some kind of bird magnet! Of all the rocks on the river Teign he had chosen the ones in front to me....... how lucky was that?
I had the camera ready but it wasn't easy, it was dull, very dull but there was a brightness from the waterfalls. It was incredibly hard to get a good photo and it was made more difficult because I couldn't really check the camera's review, that would have disturbed the bird. Remember I am just lying there under a piece of netting! I watched him for ages as well as taking pictures. It's the nearest I have been to a Dipper and he was a great bird. They seem to have almost scalloped edges to every feather and they are very attractive. My dad was a real lover of this species, we used to see them in the Peak District of Derbyshire when I was a boy so they are very special to me. This Dipper was so content and oblivious to me that at one point he rested for a while on one leg. Eventually my camera fiddling disturbed him and when I looked back through the viewfinder, he had gone! I did laugh to myself, in that kind of smug way that satisfaction brings. When I was a younger man, in fact right up to the age of 49 I had played football and occasional Rugby. When you score a goal you jump around with excitement, you know that in spite of your opponents trying to stop you, you were still good enough to achieve your aim. I got that same kind of feeling this evening. In spite of this wild bird's wary nature, caused by it's self preservation instinct, I was still able to outwit it and get some good photos. It can't get better than this at my stage of life. I am on a mission to get the very best photographs that I can and it's going well. Whenever I try to do something I want to do it to the best of my ability.
So back home I sorted through the photos and I was disappointed that only a tiny proportion of what I had taken were actually worth saving. That's how hard the conditions were tonight.
The threatened rain eventually started after all. As I made my way back up to the car I looked back and there was the Dipper again, right where I expect to put the hide. I am expecting some good photos eventually and will be surprised if I don't. I took a snap shot from a distance and as you can see it is very pretty.
Having explained to you all yesterday about the symptoms of Mantitis, today I had some particularly nasty symptoms, grumpiness being the worst! My day started at 6.30. When the alarm went I had the usual feeling of "oh no" , quickly followed by "get up you fool, it's fun and you don't work anymore". Work or not, it still takes me ages to come round, can anyone explain why you feel worse in the morning after a nights sleep than you did when you went? I sat on the top step of the stairs to pull my socks on, the ability to bend was still hours away, and then stumbled downstairs to get my camera and struggle into my waders. I had made a decision last night to take a smaller lens to the hide today, that way I would be able to capture more of the scene in front of me and give myself a better chance of getting that elusive diving shot that I am now pursuing. What a disaster that turned out to be! She arrived at 7.17 with one of those big minnows. I knew that when she had eaten it she would bathe, she always does, so I was ready. I widened my field of view and started to snap away. I got, what at the time, seemed a good shot as she left the perch and I kept shooting trying to anticipate where she would enter the water. After a while she just kept preening and seemed to have stopped diving, and she had only done it twice, usually she has around half a dozen splashes. I couldn't help myself, I just had to check what I had already got, after all I have a million photos of Kingfishers preening...... then in she splashed again! I missed it, and deserved to. Cardinal sin and rule number 1, don't check your pictures in the field incase you miss the action. I broke the rule and missed the action... idiot (I said to myself). When I got home and looked at the pictures, they were awful so, back to the drawing board.
Speckled Wood at Exminster
It was still only around 9 when I then decided to go out to Exminster Marsh, I haven't been for ages and I thought I would take a look. I was not impressed to say the least, can you believe they were actually mowing it again. I just don't agree with the way they manage that place, always chopping things down and "weeding". It was very tidy and smart but sterile! Gone were the nice little muddy pools and sedges amongst the grass. Obviously now its just like a farm field there is less insect life and less birds to feed on the insects....... why am I the only one that seems to think this. If it was a good environment for wildlife and birds then the car park would be full of people wanting to witness the spectacle but the fact that I was alone speaks volumes. My Blog is massively popular and I have hundreds of readers every day. Perhaps someone from the RSPB could explain to us all why they are doing this and what their motives are. My guess is they are manipulating the environment for one individual species at the expense of all others..... never right in my opinion.
I have said on numerous occasions that Hoverflies are interesting and today I saw a new species. As I sat in the hide waiting for Kingfishers the sun was streaming down on to a clump of grass just in front. I used the 200mm Pentax lens to take photos of this insect that was feeding on Honeydew, that's an excretion from an aphids behind to be crude. This is sweet and sugary and very attractive to ants as well as flies who lap it up. I was thrilled with the photos when I had a look at home. The background, out of focus intentionally as it is, is called a "bokah" a Japanese word apparently. It is an attractive feature of this kind of photography, the intention is to draw the viewers eyes on to the subject matter without distraction from an overly cluttered background. It certainly makes these pictures very pleasing to the eye.
I suffer from "Mantitis". This condition manifests its self with the following symptoms. A need to constantly moan and be grumpy, brought on by frustration and a raging jealousy of anyone under the age of 40. Lack of sleep due to constantly visiting the toilet in the night and then the inability to sleep after 6.30 in the morning. On rising, a head that feels as though a Rhino has sat on it all night. Eyes that feel as though they contain half of the Sahara leading to blindness for at least the first 2 hours of waking and a craving for beer which is what caused the problems in the first place. So when 6.30 arrived and it was dull as a day in Halifax (yes I've been, and it is), well I may as well get up I thought! I'm so glad I did because my Kingfisher watching today was great, probably more fun than anyone in Halifax could get in their entire life. (Rumour has it that there used to be a bird in Halifax but it was lonely so it moved to Huddersfield where there were two others). My granddaughter was born in Halifax, there is no treatment for it, you just have to put it behind you and move on(or away)! Halifax home of the famous Building Society, the modern day highway robbers. My wife tells me I shouldn't be rude about Halifax, I may upset someone, but surely if you live there you will know what I mean. Anyway back to glorious Devon which is where half the population of the North is currently on holiday anyway.
I sat in the hide, bleary eyed and stiff, nothing new there then. It was a bit dank and dull when at 17 minutes past 7 a Kingfisher landed on a perch opposite the hide. I had deliberately placed it a bit further away to try and get some flight shots, it was far to dull for that I am afraid. It had a fish which it wrestled with and then dropped back in to the brook. This was a surprise, in the past when I have seen KF's drop fish they were perched over dry land and consequently the prey wasn't lost. This young bird has obviously not developed this sensible strategy yet and after making so much effort to catch it's prey, had lost it in a split second. It had better learn quickly because when conditions get more difficult later in the year, it will not survive if it can't hold on to it's prey and therefore feed well. Then, this bird left and a few minutes later another arrived, don't think it was the same one and it brightened a bit, lots more photos and a long wait for it to dive........... it didn't! By now, and when this one had left, it got positively sunny and golden. Then another one arrived( or the same one)and I waited for a dive, again without success. When it left I quickly rushed out and moved the far perch closer to the hide. I was about to come home, coffee was sounding like an idea that couldn't be ignored but the perches looked so inviting in the fantastic sunlight, I waited! There she was again, very very close now, just a few feet and looking amazing. I took yet more portraits to add to the collection of hundreds.... well who wouldn't? When she left, so did I, and rushed home for that coffee. Two hours is a long time to sit, but at least, now my eyes were working and my "Rhino induced" headache had almost gone........ and still as stiff as ever!
A female Sparrowhawk has been terrorising the garden for the last week. We have had a nice flock of House Sparrows, breeding Collared Doves and visits from Goldfinches, the odd Greenfinch and of course Blackbirds in the garden. Then the other day Jenny told me of a Sparrowhawk, a female who had sat on the feeding log having missed her intended prey. The garden, consequently for the last few days has been extremely quiet. The birds are wary and keeping a very low profile. Frankly, I didn't expect to see the Sparrowhawk again but then at around 1230 after coming in from a bout of grocery shopping, there she was! Skulking and half hidden under the cotoneaster bush. I "pinged" her from the kitchen and quickly rushed for the camera. It's never easy to get any kind of photo through a double glazed window with all the reflection that goes on, but I snapped a few shots off for the record. I was then hoping that I might be able to open the window and get better picture but wanted afew in the bag first. But no, she had seen me and she left like a rocket through the gap at the bottom of the garden. It was a great sight to see her manoeuvre between the leaves and branches. Sparrowhawks are ambush hunters flying quickly between the branches to catch their unsuspecting prey. I know it is unpleasant to some but they are a big part of the ecology in and around gardens. No different of course to us eating meat, She has to feed and I hope that when she next does I am here to witness it and it is in my garden! She certainly is visiting me a little more than usual. This bird is a female, she is brown and bigger than the more grey coloured male. First shot from the kitchen and then the next one from the living room and through patio window glass.
We have had several flying Holly Blues in the garden this last few days and today I managed to get a nice photo of the species to make a record. Last year, I think I am correct in saying, they were totally absent from the garden but I have had them in previous years. This is probably due to the involvement of a parasitic wasp that is solely dependant on the Holly Blue, I have read that their populations do fluctuate from year to year. They apparently also have a preference for honey dew which will explain why this one was on my bean plants and not on a flower.
Bird life has gone extremely quiet this last two days since the Sparrowhawk visit.
Believe it or not, I wasn't supposed to be in the hide this morning. It was all do to the delivery of a new washing machine between the hours of 7 and midday! I had decided, as Jenny was doing a rare shift at the hospital, to give it a miss this morning. My body clock woke me at 7 though, and the morning was glorious and golden. Too much to resist I am afraid, so at 7.30 I was sat in the hide waiting for my beauty to arrive. I didn't have to wait long, today she came with no fanfare and for the first 30 seconds, or who really knows, I had missed her. She had brought a massive record breaking minnow this time but she is a greedy girl and swallowed it down with very little fuss. I missed most of the photos of this because frankly I was still a bit bleary eyed and wasn't quite ready! The light wasn't really good in the spot that she had chosen so it was hard to get any good sharp photos anyway. After a bit she did her usual bathing and I did get this shot of her after just settling on the perch.
Sticklepath is a very small village on the periphery of Dartmoor, 5 or 6 miles from Oakhampeton. It is picturesque and benefits from having the very pretty River Taw flowing right through. There are some lovely walks to enjoy along the river which tumble down through a wood with numerous waterfalls and pools to enjoy.
Three Butterflies: Peacock then Small Tortoiseshell followed by Large White. There were some interesting Hoverflies feeding amongst the Butterflies as well as another Hummingbird Hawk Moth and a Fritillary species which I didn't manage photos of.
This first one as a Syrphus species.
I am searching for the identity of this next species.
Suddenly, this time there was a fanfare! I was in the hide by around 7 and felt very tired. my confidence was low because I hadn't photographed a KF since last Wednesday. Had she moved on on to another part of the territory? She flashed past me at around 7.30 and my hopes were lifted, then a few minutes later, as I started to almost doze again, there was a loud call .... the fanfare ....... and she landed very close with a great big minnow. Was she telling any other Kingfishers in the area to keep clear? I think so! She dealt with it, had a bath and a scracth, tried out the other perches and then there was a distant call from another KF and off she went to sort out the intruder. Fabulous, fabulous fabulous and all before 8 this morning, it doesn't get any better.
...........and then has a good scratch
I took a walk along the brook at lunchtime and was surprised to discover a small flock of warblers. For certain there was several Willow Warblers, possibly Sedge Warblers and Chiffchaff. I took a few distant photographs and then had a look on the mac when I got home. The bird on the left is definitely a young Willow Warbler and I am quite certain the other is a Chiffchaff. I am basing this on the yellow colour and the supercillium (eye stripe) of the Willow Warbler and the more greyish back and leg colour and absence of supercillium of the bird on the right. however, Willow/chaffs are notoriously hard to tell apart and even in the hand they need careful consideration.
You might be interested in the origin of the word "supercillium". The word supercilious means haughty and refers to eyebrows raised. a supercillium is merely a scientific way of referring to an eyebrow!
Also seen today on my little walk was a pair of Raven soaring above and being pestered by gulls. I have included this for you to look at the tail, this diamond shape is a real indicator to this species as well as their croaky bark of a call which is very distinctive and unmistakable.
Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies are not that unusual and I see them often by the brook. Today I saw and photographed two different individuals.
Evening Update
At around 5 this evening, I went for a session in the hide hoping to see a Kingfisher but no show I am afraid. The light was good and after some recent rain the water looked inviting and fresh. I sat it out for around two hours and then returned home to be greeted by Jenny, my wife, who told me that I had just missed a Sparrowhawk in the garden. By the description, it was a female. It had come in to the garden and perched on the tree stump right next to the feeding station and close to my pop up hide. Just lately, as I said yesterday, we have had lots of young Sparrows and a young Collared Dove in the garden so these would have been the intended prey for the Hawk. I have my suspicions that she was around yesterday because my laying hens were making a lot of noise which at the time made me very suspicious, when they had done that on a previous occasion I had found the corpse of a warm and half eaten dove on the grass. This time she had sat there looking around for more than 10 minutes before seeing prey and flying off quickly in pursuit. I would say that we have a Sparrowhawk in the garden, on average every 3 months so it was a shame to miss her. Also in the garden earlier on was a Holly Blue Butterfly and at the Brook, a Jersey Tiger Moth was by the entry gate. There appears to be a few more Jerseys around this year.
Collared Doves are nesting in my garden at the moment. I am a lover of theses elegant and pretty doves who were absent from the UK until 1956. During my lifetime they have pretty much become one of the commonly seen garden birds and there are not many gardens in the UK that they are absent from all throughout the year. I am taken by their gorgeous red eye which is not seen from a distance but from my garden hide this morning this male was showing really well in the sunshine.
House Sparrows have bred well this year. I am not sure if any of their nests were in the garden but there are certainly quite a few baby birds and juveniles using the garden at the moment. These are in the company of adults and the rest of the flock which has been increased dramatically, good news. . The juveniles have been feeding on the new, unripe berries on the pyracantha.
Later on in the afternoon we had a visit from a young Robin. This was a nice surprise because I haven't seen a Robin in the garden for a while. This bird was, however, a bit different. so young that it hasn't even started it's first moult. By the onset of winter all baby robins will have completed their post juvenile moult and gained the red breast that we are all familiar with so it was nice to also see that Robins have bred somewhere locally.
The Gate Keeper Butterfly is an insect that we have in the garden from time to time at this time of the year. Yesterday, even though it was windy and a little bit dull, not ideal conditions, one was in the garden and I managed to photograph it for the blog.
So a good day in the garden with Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Starlings and a Jackdaw and the breeding Collared Doves all passing through in addition to the ones above. Away from the garden, I had just a short while in the hide at around 7.30 without seeing the KF and at 8 the Environment Agency workers arrived to continue with their dredging, upstream. Peace was shattered so I came home. Then in the evening as I passed by, I just had a quick peep to see if everything was in order and safe. One of the Kingfishers was near the hide and left as soon as it spotted me. At least I know that everything is still in order.
This morning I arrived at the hide at 0600. It was a nice pleasant early morning with the sun just rising and an orange glow in the sky. The light for photography wasn't ideal at first but it got better and better so at 07.27 when the KF landed on the perch, it was perfect. My real quest now is to try and get the in-flight shots that have eluded me for so long and to achieve this, everything needs to be in place. Obviously you need a bird to photograph! But after that, good enough light to achieve 1000 sec (at least), and preferably better. So today by 07.27, it was all in place........ and there she was. She, (yes it was the dark legged female), did a bit of fishing and caught a very small fish which she ate very quickly. Then she flew off to the branch opposite and as she "kicked" away from the perch, my reflexes were quick enough to press the viewfinder before she left the frame. When I checked the review on the camera and saw the results, a warm glow spread through me...... a glow of satisfaction and achievement
I didn't manage any photographs at the hide this morning. In the very poor light and rainy conditions, a Kingfisher did flash by and I was waiting for it to come back to the perches with a fish but it didn't happen even though I waited for 2 hours. It is particularly quiet for birds on the brook at the moment and in that 2 hour session the fleeting fly by of a KF was all that visited. I may be more lucky later this afternoon and as the light has improved that could be a possibility. From the bathroom "hide" at home the garden was very busy this morning, a portent of things to come I hope. House Sparrows have done well locally and there was a youngster being fed by it's parent in the cotoneaster bush which made for a very appealing photograph. Just for the record, we have had Blue Tits, Great Tits and Goldfinch in the garden today as well as Blackbirds (both sexes) and a Starling. Worth a mention because they are not even a fraction as common here in the West Country as they were formally.
On Sunday last, I had a very good look for Hoverflies on the banks of the brook and discovered a smashing insect. I am fascinated by Hoverflies and even when I say that to birders, I get some funny looks. They can be very pretty and they come in over 250 varieties, that's the number of UK species (roughly). All of them imitate either wasps or bees and hover above plants to feed. They are fond of honeydew which is the sugary secretion from aphids.
This species is Xanthgramma pedissequum, it looks very similar to a wasp and you can imagine being frightened by it if you didn't know better. This is the second time I have seen one. The last was in the garden last August.
A notable day so far. Thinking things through a bit more I decided to get up earlier in the hope and expectation of observing some feeding behaviour. By 6 20 I was sat in the hide and within 2 minutes a KF had arrived, it's very good when that happens. It only stayed momentarily, then left as quickly as it had arrived and flew off upstream. "What was going on" I thought? "Why had it not lingered as normal?" After a few minutes I saw a KF fly by in the same direction and thought that it was odd as I hadn't seen one fly by in the other direction, it must be another bird, I thought. Then one came back and perched on the variety of perches that I had set out. There was a bathing session and it caught a fish and I took these photos. The light was bad and I had the camera adjusted to try and get something in flight which was not successful. I either missed the head of the bird as it flew out of shot, or the tail as I was just a bit too soon with the shutter. After a short while, the bird flew off but as it was still very early, and well before 7, I stayed to see if "she" came back. Very soon "she" did and I watched her for a while before she moved on as well . I was back home and looking at the images on the Mac by 7.30ish. and it wasn't until then that I had a good look at the bird and realised that I had photographed yet another different bird, this time a young male. Young males, like adults have all black beaks whereas females have an orange colour to the lower mandible. Not the best pics in the world but interesting as it is the 5th different Kingfisher photographed from the hide in the last 11 months.
The light was absolutely perfect at around 8 this morning. I was a bit latter than normal due to a 'heavy night" last night! There was a heavy dew in the air and it's not often that the sun is shining as nicely as it was this morning. I took my hot mug of coffee with me to the brook and I was sat in there drinking it when the KF joined me to eat her breakfast, a little Stickleback. I quickly grabbed the camera and snapped away. Because the light was so good, the camera was working in an ideal way with around 1600th of a second and an aperture of 5.6. This meant that I was not only freezing the action, I had good depth of field as well, most images were going to be sharp and all the bird in focus. Light......... so important in photography. If it's good it just makes success that much easier to achieve. She stayed for just as long as it took her to swallow this comparatively little fish and then off she went again, like a turquoise missile. She rocketed off down stream to catch even more fish no doubt, leaving me to drink my, still hot, coffee which I did and then left to come home for my late breakfast. It doesn't get any better or more simple to be honest.
I have been getting some real recognition for my Kingfisher photographs this last 2 weeks and I am enjoying the opportunity to share my pictures with people all around the world.
This morning at 7, I was joined in the hide by a guest who had driven a couple of hours to get here from the City of Swindon in Wiltshire. He had come specifically to see and hopefully photograph Kingfishers after I invited him. He had contacted me to say nice things about my photographs and had asked for some tips. So there we were, sat very tightly together and it's not a good day weather wise. A bit dull and a threat of rain in the air. We had to wait some considerable time, well over an hour, before the first sign of a Kingfisher. I was getting tense and a bit nervous in case we had a blank, I know that wouldn't have been my fault but when you have made such an effort then you almost deserve to be rewarded. So when we saw our quarry albeit very fleetingly, I was relieved, and he was thrilled. What followed though, definitely made his trip worth while. The dark legged female suddenly arrived back in front of us and put on a tremendous show. She bathed and preened and stayed for a while. Mike took some good photos and he was thrilled as was I! Then our bird continued with her show, flying opposite and perching in a spot I have rarely seen her before, high on a dead twiggy branch, the remains of last years dock I think. She even did a bit of a hover for us and flapped her wings frantically at one point. Then she was gone leaving one very happy "customer" and a relieved host as well! Here are the photos. Incidentally if you would like an escorted photographic session with advice about Kingfisher photography from the hide and with an opportunity to get your own photos, then please email me and I will tell you what dates I have available and my fees etc. I have already got several more visitors pencilled in.
She bathes for us as normal, diving in and out of the water and back to her perch.
Some interesting behaviour today in the garden as I photographed a young Collared Dove, a Starling (Sturnus vulgarus) appeared to be showing an unusual amount of aggressive interest in a newly fledged House Sparrow. At one point the Starling even seemed to have a hold of the sparrow . Eventually the baby sparrow fought back and the starling thought better of it and released it's grip.
You can clearly see the Starling's feet around the sparrow in this shot. Very odd behaviour and something I haven't witnessed before. I once saw a Carrion Crow sidle up to a Starling on a roof top and eat it, but that's another story.
I went to the hide at around 7 and it wasn't long before one of the TWO female Kingfishers using the territory arrived. Yes 2 KF's. Obviously we know about the fight but I have now learnt to identify them by the extent of the orange on the lower bill and also the colour and shape of the feet. This is black feet, she has small feet which are much darker than the other bird that I se who has chubbier feet with less black and a totally different shape to the colouring on the lower bill. She just momentarily paused on the perch and then flew away up stream, probably to find a better fishing spot, she was in fishing mode! Just 7 minutes later she returned with a minnow and consumed it quite easily. The light was dismal which made for hard photography so, when she did the almost inevitable dive for a bath, I couldn't freeze the action successfully, the images that I caught in flight were just too blurred. Never the less I am quite pleased with a couple of these shots.
After she had eaten she continued to look for fish. The spot in front of the hide is not the best place for fish, they always have a good look around but rarely do they catch right in front of the hide. This is a typical pose as she scans the water for prey.
I have endless photos of Kingfishers posing like this but it doesn't stop me wanting to post more and more of them........ you could say I am in love with these birds. I am having a Kingfisher Affair which just happens to be the name for my new book!
Kingfishers take a great deal of care with their plumage and also clean their feet routinely Remembering that this is just a very young bird, it is amazing that they have inherited all this behaviour.
Kingfishers, in common with most birds, have a preen gland right in that spot that the bird in the photo is poking at. The bird here is literally collecting a secretion of oil from this gland which it will then transfer to its feathers. This will help to waterproof the feathers and make them easier to keep dry. We are all familiar with the expression "Water off a ducks back", in actual fact ducks have a very well developed preen gland and that is why they are able to live, as they do, in an aquatic environment. Interestingly, Cormorants do not have a well developed preen gland and that is why, from time to time, you see them drying their wings, holding them outstretched.
I know that people are visiting the blog just to see kingfisher photos so I I am under a certain amount of pressure not to disappoint! Last Monday morning was the last time I saw Kingfishers on the brook when I visited the hide with my Daughter- in -law Carrie. We took these photos while the bird was with us for several minutes with a Stickleback. Then after a while we both were surprised to notice another Kingfisher on a nearby perch. Eventually, or should I say, quite quickly the first bird was chased from the territory by another bird which then returned to the perch having successfully ejecting bird number 1 from the area. There was no fight this time, the origianal bird choosing to leave rather than fight. They are very hard to tell apart but I discovered which was which by looking closely at the foot colour and the difference in the extent of the beak colour in each individual.
If you compare this bird here to the one 3 pictures below, you can clearly see a difference in the feet. As the photos were taken at the same time of day and when the light was the same, then I know it is not a trick of the light causing the feet to look different.
Now look at this bird in the picture above and all the pictures below, this is a different female.
I am away in Yorkshire and I have spent most of the day with my Grandaughter on her 1st birthday. So just in case you are looking for a new Kingfisher photo then here are a couple from the other day before we left. Back to Devon tomorrow and the study and photography will continue.
It's been an interesting day here in Yorkshire, apart from spending quality time with my gorgeous grandaughter .................. one year old tomorrow, I have had a couple of nice sessions. I don 't often see Wheatear, in fact the last one was here in Yorkshire last May. This smashing little bird was on the high Saddleworth Moor and was very confiding, perhaps it had never seen people before because it is quite isolated up there.
During the day as I drove across the moor I had seen a covey of Red Grouse. I was glad that I managed to grab a few shots as they peered at me above the grass.
A White Tailed Bumble Bee - Bombous lucorum at Meltham Moor today.
Of course, this is not a Kingfisher from Yorkshire but one of the photos from yesterday morning's session just to keep you happy if you have visited the Blog looking for more Kingfisher shots. I took around 300 yesterday and have yet to sort through. Amongst them are some great shots which I will be able to post when I return to Devon at the end of the week.
The glories of the Aphin Brook have been put aside for 3 days as I find myself in West Yorkshire for a day or so. My Kingfishers can take care of themselves without me I'm sure but I can't wait to get back to them. I have some good ideas taking shape including trying to get that elusive under water shot .............. lets say I have a plan. This time last year, in fact almost to the day, I had a magnificent view of Short Eared Owl on the nearby Saddleworth Moor so Later I am going to give that area a look again. Also, whenever I am here, Twite are another species that I try constantly to photograph. So, plenty to be going on with, even Tree Sparrows are worth a look so check back later to see what I managed to see today. In the mean time here is a photo of a Carder Bee that I took the other day. These bees are worth looking out for at present. Lavender is a plant, in flower at present, that bees are very, very attracted to and yesterday I saw a large "bush" with dozens of large bumbles and carders coming to feed. The Carders have foxy tan, hairy thorax, the only bee species with this colour. In addition they are quite long with black and white stripes on the body.
Carrie and I went to the hide at just before seven this morning and we were, in the end trapped in because not only did one KF come and really perform another came momentarily and the usual aggressive dispute took place. I am confused now? Are there actually 2 KFs using the perches, obviously at different times, but this morning made think, "Which bird is which?" The light was just about as good as it could be, and I said to Carrie, "imagine if she comes now", and then there she was with a massive stickleback which she really beat up before eventually managed to get down. It must be disappointing when you are a KF to catch a Stickleback when they are so hard to deal with compared to a big fat ,meaty minnow.
I said she really beat it up and in this shot above, you can see bits of guts flying out.
The story behind this image is interesting, well it is to me at least. It's my birthday, I'm 60, and not too chuffed to be honest but that's another story! My family clubbed together to buy me a nice bit of kit, a new gadget which attaches to the view finder of the camera and allows you to look through from above and each side. In other words a right angle viewer. It is a good bit of kit and, although this picture doesn't really show it, it means that I can take pictures from a much lower angle close to the water. So this evening before supper, I went to the hide and got the camera positioned really low through a hole in the bottom of the hide. Almost immediately ............ I love it when it happens like that........ there was a splash to my right, it was very loud and I knew that only one thing could be splashing about like that, and then there she was, wet and a bit bedraggled. She was bathing and I have thought for a long time that this would give me a chance of a flight shot. When Kingfishers bathe, if you haven't seen it, they flop in and out of the water returning to the same perch after each dive. This goes on for several 'splashes" and each time, with luck she will return to the perch that she left just a few seconds ago. So knowing that was about to happen I literally focused on the perch as she dived in and then caught her just as she returned to land. Success at last! This is bound to happen again so I will be able to get more of these shots and hopefully the light will be better and I can then overcome some of the "depth of field" problems. Earlier on in the day I took some of the best shots of this bird so far, it all depends on light and where your subject in relation to the sun. This morning I got it just right and the results were just great. Enough of the talk, here are the pictures.
This is a Common Blue Butterfly - Polyommatus icarus. There are several on the banks of the brook and today, in between waiting for Kingfishers I had a closer look. The other day I had seen a Painted Lady but there was no sign of one today, nor Comma which I have also seen a few times. I took this next photo of a moth, A Silver Y - Autographa gamma species. (Thanks Phil)
There is a huge gap in my knowledge of moths I am ashamed to say. Talking of moths on July 28th last year, and the very same date the year before..... see here ........ I had seen a Jersey Tiger Moth in the garden and blow me if I didn't see one again today and the first of the year, a day late this year, but amazing. Is this coincidental or is something quite special going on. I didn't manage a photo this year, but there is always tomorrow.
Also quite commonly seen at the moment are lots of the hoverfly which is Syrphus sp.
.....and of course there is always another Kingfisher photograph. Not the best day for Kingfishers but I have got something to show for several hours of wait. Under normal service I would be calling this a great image, but it's just one of more than 200 photos I have saved of a Kingfisher posing.
This shot shows our new "little princess" about to dive for a fish. I am quite ashamed of myself in a way, I have had so many opportunities to photograph both this bird, and the male I watched throughout the winter, yet still a good flight shot eludes me. I am either too early or too late. I have reckoned up that I have had in excess of 60 close up encounters with KF's since last August. When I say close ups, I mean when a KF has been within 10 feet of me. I have tried all sorts of lenses and all sorts of techniques but still no luck. However, yesterday was a near as I have come.
I hope you find these shots as amusing as I do. But there's always tomorrow, and in fact the rest of today , and I will keep trying. Already this morning, it nearly happened. I went to the hide at 8.30ish and after a short wait she arrived on the perch with prey which seemed a strange little thing and I am not sure it was a fish, possibly a newt as I have seen KF's eat newts on a previous occasion. This female has started to hover quite a lot. If I get it just right will give me the chance of a good photo. Incidentally, the sight of a hovering kingfisher is a magnificent spectacle and makes the heart race!
Now to something really special. It has been an incredibly full and unusual week with lots of milestones and occurrences. Saturday was my 39th Wedding Anniversary, tomorrow is my 60th Birthday, yesterday we paid off our 25 year mortgage and today......... best of all, my picture of fighting Kingfishers won Photo of the Week on Birdguides. This is really exciting and a great honour. It's not for me to say great achievement but is certainly a tremendous accolade, and I am very proud. If you are not familiar with Birdguides then have a look at my picture and their website here.
I make no apologies whatsoever for including yet again, more Kingfishers. I am just fortunate at the moment to have this female KF with me, I am spending some quality time with my new "best friend". Come next week or sooner, (or hopefully later), she will have moved on and I will be concentrating my efforts on another species. But this week, and untill it ends, it's Kingfishers.
July is a great month, even if the weather is a bit dodgy it's usually still reasonably warm and today was like that. Overcast and a bit rainy at first but not bad enough to keep me out of the hide. I'm glad I made the effort because she was with me after a short wait, appearing in the viewfinder with another massive minnow. She really can handle these big fish, just compare it's length to her body, that's one big fish for her to deal with. The male that we had with us for so long over the Autumn and Winter made a big deal about dealing with large prey. Not this bird, she just manoeuvres it until it's head first and down it goes. Today, after a big breakfast she flew to the opposite side and sat there for at least half an hour to let it "go down". When I first saw a Kingfisher last September, here on the brook, I dreamt of getting a good shot with a fish. Now if its not absolutely perfect, sharp and doing nothing but posing, it gets binned. This morning I took a couple of hundred photos and deleted 75% but most of them were good, it's just impossible though to keep 300 pictures every day.
Getting a kingfisher in flight is the 'holy-grail" to me. I almost did it with this picture above, she is just lifting off. A split second later would have seen a perfect image. She was actually flying off to bath and then I photographed her on this next perch which I think is a lovely image.
Yesterday was very full and extremely productive. We visited Colaton Fishacre in the Devon South Hams, a National Trust property that is one of their finest. The gardens are really special, on a slope that passes down through a wooded valley to cliffs that over-look the sea. The profusion of flowering plants attracts a host of insects, all interesting but some yesterday were really special such as this Hummingbird Hawk Moth. I haven't seen one before and was frankly awe struck by the similarity to a real Humminbird. How did that happen, convergent evolution apparently. But look closely, it even has eyes that look like a birds eye and a tail that is well on the way to being a birds tail.......... absolutely amazing.
It is even more amazing because it does not breed in the UK but has arrived here on migration from Southern Europe or even North Africa. This is and incredible feat involving a potential 1500 mile flight and a crossing of open water of perhaps 70 miles depending on where the channel crossing occurred. So to see one here in Devon, let alone get photographs is exceptionally fortunate, and thrilling.
This picture is a good one because it shows the tongue, which it extends to around 4 cms to sip nectar. In the picture you can see that when not in use the tongue is coiled like a spring.
This shot shows, in true Hummingbird style, the speed of the wing beats as it hovers in front of the flowers. Apparently you can also hear a humming sound as it's wings beat a rapid speed, also remeniscent of a true hummingbird. In this shot you can see the now extended tongue probing towards the blossoms.
Now more Kingfishers.
In the morning before I left for the shortish journey to South Devon, I had been to check out my Kingfisher. She was with me almost immediately but only fleetingly. I still managed to get a nice photo or two.
This photo, and the one below, gives me an opportunity to show the difficulties you can have with wildlife photography. Even with a bird as close to you as my Kingfisher, the light can make it extremely hard to capture a good image. The picture above is with the sun coming from the left of the bird. The sun was not shining but the light was quite strong. Then in the evening, the sun was low and very intense, coming from the right and making it very because of the white throat of the bird and the light perch.. This is always going to be burnt out and over exposed if you are going to see any detail at all in the darker parts of the bird. I must have take over 100 photos of her at this session. I was really struggling to cope with the strong shadows as described. At one point she was so close to me it was almost silly. She stayed with me on her perches, the ones she had fought very hard to "own", for at least an hour. Can you imagine, a Kingfisher only 4 feet, if that, for one whole hour!
To see this image without the copyright then look here Then to get back here use the back button on your PC or Mac.
The story behind these photos is a great one. I went to the brook at just after 10 (with a promise to my wife on our 39th Wedding Anniversary, that I would be back by 11..... no chance!) I was literally in the hide for 30 seconds when I saw a flash of blue in front of me. When I looked out, on the long low perch there was not one, but two Kingfishers, I am still not 100% sure if they were both females or not but undoubtedly they were both juveniles. What then transpired had me riveted for 2 whole hours because that's how long it took this battle to simmer and then start. There was in fact lots of inactivity with beak stretching and threat postures from both birds who had by now, flown opposite me to the other side of the brook. When the fight started it was instigated by first lots of calling from the dominant female, probably the "girl" that I have been watching for the last week. Then all of a sudden the other bird attacked "my" female and the tumbled down off their perch in to the brook. There was lots of beak holding and rolling around which went on for around 30 seconds with one coming out on top as you can see and literally holding the other one under. When the fight broke up they were both out of sight but quite quickly one returned and took up position, triumphantly it appeared, right in front of me.
The story behind my photographs is a typical one. yesterday I had taken two cameras with me and unfortunately, dropped one in to the muddy puddle at my feet. I quickly dried the gritty muddy off it and it was almost Ok but the viewfinder is now scratched and you can hardly see through it. Today because I hadn't expected to be there very long, I went again with two cameras and the battery was low in my best camera. This eventually died quite early on. I was therefore left with damaged camera number two to try and capture the action. I managed quite well all things considering. I have to say that when it was all over and I came home, I was trembling with excitement and could hardly speak. I had witnessed and been able to photograph some really special behaviour. I have put a copyright tag on the photo because I do not want anyone using the image without my permission. You can see it without the © by following the link as described.
Already, and its only 1120, I have had a wonderful. beautiful Kingfisher encounter of the highest order!!!!! I have a plan for the rest of the day but before I left I just thought i would go down to the Brook for a while and see what was happening. I didn't see a Kingfisher yesterday. Has she departed? Thinking that the light would be wrong this morning I went with just the idea that I might see her and then I would know. I arrived at 1030 and settled back comfortably in the hide that had undergone some refurb yesterday. It's now a bit more user friendly and easier to get in to even though it's cramped and you share with a few Harvestmen arachnids and a wasps nest just by the entrance....... not good if you have suffered a full anaphylactic shock from wasp stings as I have, It's only a matter of time befog another I am sure. Hope I get to casualty in time like before. Anyway, it's sunny and warm, balmy would describe it. I am thinking, "it can't get better than this" when it did....... she arrived. It was 1040! I heard a splash to my left, it could only be one thing, and there she was. She immediately flew up to the new perch I had placed for her and posed magnificently as you can see. Then off she went back to the branch at water level where she had been before. She did a few dives for a wash and then left again.......... another wow is in order I feel!
I went back to the brook this evening armed with two cameras. I wanted to post some images that showed the environment that the Kingfisher live in. In this picture you can see down the brook, just as I could, a little orange speck which is in fact a Kingfisher.
Then in this picture below, you can see her with a fish and to the right a ripple which she has just made when she caught this minnow. The dark patch to the bottom of the image is my other camera and it's 300mm lens poking through the hide..
So then after a while, she caught another minnow and landed in front of me. In fact almost too close because I could only just about focus on her with the the 300 lens, she was just too close!
It was already quite late in the day and the sun was very low in the sky. The light was wonderful and eventually she dealt with the fish and settled down in the very late evening sun. I took a lovely image of her which, because of the light is different.
I really put some time in to this picture today. It was just after 4 when I went down to the brook and apart from a short break for tea I was still there at 8.15. A total of about 3 1/2 hours. After my tea break, at 6.30 I approached the hide and she was sat on her new favourite perch. She saw me and left sharpish! I then had to wait until around 7.40 when she arrived back to her favourite perch yet again. I started taking pictures and managed 14 or so before she flew off. As I have said before, she is only a few feet away when she is on this perch and it is magical to see her so close. I think this picture is about as good as it could be and I am really pleased with it.
It was actually quite a good day for birds. The garden has started to come to life again and there were Blue Tits, Great Tits, Goldfinch both adults and youngsters and a Greenfinch. However at the brook waiting for the KF, I had some really nice visits from other birds. A Greenfinch came in to drink, really unusual, I haven't see one do that before.
Grey Wagtails and Sparrows are no strangers but these photos are definitely worth sharing with you.
It has been a dismally rainy day with very little opportunity to get out without getting soaked to the skin.......... so that's what i did. The brook is high, the water almost above my chair but I still climbed down and got and immediate welly full of water. So already wet, I sat in the hide with the rain pouring down and waited to see how the new Kingfisher was coping in this pretty awful weather. All the perches were submerged except for one, you can see it above, and as you can see, it wasn't long before she had landed on it. Fantastic view of this lovely bird. She preened and posed, bathed and then posed again. Being a Kingfisher she wasn't worried about the rain but when she started to look for fish in the flooding water I started to become a bit concerned for her. I really hope she can get some food in these conditions. As you can see below, she flew to a perch opposite to look from there.
I have to confess to feeling good about this picture, not the best but getting there at last. This new bird is a little slower than the previous male so it is going to be possible to get some in-flight shots of her. When she eventually settled she spent 10 minutes looking for a fish but then moved on to somewhere that would be easier. I hope she was successful.
I think this is a "teneral" , or "newly-emerged individual beacaus eit isn't as bright as it will become as it matures. This is a dragonfly that I have seen in my garden before and it is quite likely to have emerged from my garden pond as they are known to frequent habitats such as gardens and garden water features.
I did see the new female Kingfisher twice today, both times at lunchtime. When the light was in the right direction I went down to the brook to try for some shots. After exactly an hour a Kingfisher flashed by the hide without stopping. I expected it to return but unfortunately that didn't happen today. Oh well, There is always tomorrow.
I had a busy day yesterday, as a musician I took part in a Memorial Service at the local crematorium which was moving and worthwhile. Things like that help you to appreciate life and teach you to make the best of every opportunity that presents it's self. I have some lovely friends that I am really close to, they are all musicians too, and until you have played in a band you can never know the camaraderie and pleasure collective music making can bring. Anyway to get to the point, in the early evening I went ........ yes you've guessed it ....... back to the Alphin Brook for the evening session, determined as I said to make the best of every opportunity. I arrived just a few minutes after 6 and had to remind myself at 6.35 when nothing had happened, that quite often it's like this and there can be long periods, particularly at the start of a session when your confidence can wane. Then, as if on cue, she arrived, now perky and more confident than yesterday, in fact very perky because what happened next really surprised me. Suddenly I heard the sound of a Kingfisher calling as it flew past the hide, our female called and the newcomer landed next to her. There was a stand off between the two with the female posturing and making herself look as tall and big as possible. I couldn't get a good view of the "new" bird except very quickly because, (Murphy's Law), he was hidden behind a branch. The quick sight of him proved he was a male and also, by the colour of his feet, a youngster. I suspect that this would have been a sibling of the female, also on the look out for a territory of his own. After a minute or so the stand off ended as he flew down the brook followed by her in pursuit ......... she had won one of her first battles! Exactly 9 minutes later she returned, alone now, and preened, bathed and fished. Quite a good evening for her, and me as well. Here are a few shots from this great session.
For more images from this session visit here.
Here she is posturing to the intruder.
After getting rid of him she got on with some fishing and came up with this massive minnow. I didn't expect her to deal with it so well. I never saw the previous male deal with such a big fish as easily as she did. Incidentally just note how the colours of Kingfishers varies depending on the ambient light. They have no pigment in their back feathers. The colour is produced by iridescence. So when books describe the colour of young Kingfishers as duller than adults, that is not true when it comes to the "blue" feathers on the wings, back, head and tail. However, the orange on the chest can be slightly less bright.
What a day today has been for me, I am obsessed with Kingfishers, (or should I say Common Kingfisher - Alcedo athis to be accurate). This afternoon the weather wasn't perfect but it was reasonably bright and to be honest, even though I had seen a Kingfisher momentarily last evening, I wasn't really expecting one today, they have been so hard to see just lately. I was in the hide for only minutes when a constant stream of nice House Sparrows came and went and I amused myself by trying to photograph them in flight, just at the point of landing. It's hard but good fun and challenging. After a while it went a bit quiet and as is normal, if you have spent an hour or more in a little tent, my concentration was beginning to waver a bit. Then....... wow..... wow ....wow....... there she was! A Kingfisher, perched on the new branch that I had brought from Dartmoor only last evening. After just a second I realised that it wasn't my favourite male, the attention of all my focus for the last 8 months. It was a new baby female! (another wow). She was beautiful and very scared, or that's the way it seemed. When the sparrows flew in she would duck her head and she looked as though she was uncertain as to what her reactions should be. She was just a few feet in front of me, perhaps just 3 or 4. I stopped photographing her and just gazed at her in admiration and awe. That often over used word that no self respecting Englishman would ever use "awesome" would have been OK in this situation. What a beauty. She was content and seemed to be fishing, and yes I was right because eventually, after about 15 minutes, she dived in and came out with a fish of some sort which she ate and then dived, unsuccessfully for another and then she was gone!!!!!
I rushed home and as quickly as I could, waded through the 333 pictures and selected 20 or so of the best, quite a feat in it's self but amazing to see her now on my screen. Then after tea I returned for that glorious golden light part of the day and filmed her again at 7.40 when she caught a stickleback and had trouble getting it down because it had stuck in to her beak! It has occurred to me that if the male, who is the custodian of this territory comes back and finds her here, then all hell will break out and he will certainly try to at the very least chase her away and at worst drown her!!!! He is going to be a very unhappy and aggressive Kingfisher. They are extremely territorial and will even drown their own young within 7 days of them leaving the nest if they remain in their parents space.
I took these flying sparrow pics yesterday, practising really for such an opportunity with a Kingfisher I have to confess that it was good fun and, as you can see, extremely difficult to freeze the action. I also had the first chance to photograph a Greenfinch, a new one for my Wildlife on Alphin Brook Gallery. You can see it here. Along with all the other birds recorded and photographed there.
Another baby Grey Wagtail came to perch and of course I too k a few photos just for the record really.
So that all happened on Thursday, so what of Friday.......... read on!
It isn't often that my day draws a total blank, in fact I can't remember going out with the camera for 3 hours and coming home without any pictures. I had walked along the River Exe this morning, without my camera but just trying to get some exercise. It was quite fascinating when I got to the area near to where the Kingfishers nested at the beginning of the season. we heard at least two Kingfishers. We immediately sat down on the bank in the hope of catching sight of them but they went in the opposite direction and they stopped calling. But it was good to know that they are still active in their territory. Very sadly the river is about as high as it could be at the moment and the Sand Martin colony is, for the second year running, a total wash out. The nest burrows are completely under water and any youngsters in the nest burrows will certainly have drowned. Adult birds and probably youngsters from the earlier rounds were attempting to get to their nests and were probably mystified as to why they couldn't get access.
So exercise over, this afternoon, I travelled out to the moor, set up the hide and waited for an hour and half. Not one bird came anywhere near. I can only assume that as there is a lot of standing water in puddles at present, the birds have no need to visit the stream. It certainly seems that way. Very disappointingly I came home with no photos in the camera. At just after 7, and back in Alphington, I went to the brook for the golden light that is always good for photography. I have found that there is a twenty minute period when the sun is low and the light is just perfect. As I approached my hide there he was, my Kingfisher. He was sat right in front , he saw me and left to perch in the streamside vegetation. In the perfect conditions, he looked beautiful. I quickly got in to the hide and waited for him to come back but he didn't....... what a shame. The light was glorious and it would have been just perfect. My Kingfisher is his own bird. He will visit you when he is good and ready and not before, he calls the shots. Kingfishers are amazing, almost ridiculously coloured birds that live private lives and they will only share it with you when you are lucky and today, again, I wasn't.
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