Wednesday 3 October 2012

A Date with the King!

For the last few days I have been trying to photograph the Kingfishers from the Reedbed hide at Stodmarsh after work but due to the birds not showing and the cloud and rain having others ideas I have yet to still see and photograph them. I have been seeing the 2 Great White Egrets  normally flying around with the local Grey Herons in close attendance. I made a brief visit again tonight and with the cloud still present the light was not that good at all should they even appear. I met another birder in the hide who informed me he had seen the Kingfisher on a few occasions and it had even been fishing well from the posts. Natural England have adapted the posts outside of the hide to make a few more landing areas for the Kingfishers, hopefully the areas by the Feast hide can be cleared out as well to allow the Kingfishers to once again fish here. I was soon left alone in the hide and noted a few birds including c150 Lapwing, 3 Jay, 2 Chiffchaff and 1 Hobby when I heard the call of a Kingfisher not far away. A flash of blue appeared and flew straight towards me landing on one of the posts outside of the hide. I was soon firing away like mad and the next 20 minutes were spent watching and photographing this little beauty as it actively dived and caught a few small fish. It flew from post to post and gave me nearly all the views I needed. The only thing missing was the sun as the clouds meant a slightly slower shutter speed and not as sharp a shot as I would have liked. Hopefully if the Kingfisher continues to been seen from here I can return when the sun shines and obtain the desired shots. Other bits noted from here today were 1 Great White Egret in flight, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Wigeon, c35 Cormorant and still lots of Swallows, House and Sand Martins flying west through the reserve.


10 comments:

  1. Well caught Marc shame about the light!

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  2. Very nice shots on the little Jewel Marc
    I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to enjoy this bird. Will try again this weekend. Greetings / Kenny

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  3. Brilliant images Marc,I would be more than happy to capture images like these.Wonderful bird with the posts so close and perfect background,very well done.

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  4. Sun or not, those are beautiful photos! The plumage is just gorgeous!

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  5. Super images Marc, in spite of the light. You've just reminded me that I don't think I've seen a Kingfisher this year - a very sad state of affairs!

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  6. these are great images Marc and I would be well pleased with them, I sat all last Sunday morning waiting for them in a hide I visit a lot and got a quick fleeting glimpse, well done

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  7. I went back this morning and the Kingfisher showed well..... in the sun. I will hopefully post a few better shots tonight.

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  8. Excellent shots Marc, I would love to get a pic from Sissinghurst but haven't had a sniff yet :-)

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  9. Like Alan at Sissinghurst, not a sniff of a Kingfisher pic here either Marc, I need to build a bigger pond next to my garden shed me thinks!

    Well done on your shots anyway!

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