After capturing a Kingfisher diving a few days ago (see here), I constructed a temporary perch in the area it was diving in the hope to capture some more footage.
No Kingfishers Yet, Plenty Other Wildlife To See
No Otters Yet, Another Fisherman Arrived Though! (Video)
I have placed my Bushnell Camera on a different River Pool after finding a nearby (maybe) Otter’s Holt, however, for the last 2 nights the camera has only managed to capture a Mouse.
Yesterday morning at 10:40am I was recorded leaving the site after swapping out the memory card, just 15 minutes later the following was captured. Yes, a Kingfisher catching it’s breakfast. It’s not great footage as the camera is pointing directly into the sun at this time of day. However, the shape of the Kingfisher is unmistakable.
I’m not really surprised to have captured the Kingfisher, however, I am surprised to see the Kingfisher here at this time of year. Normally, when the rivers dry up the Kingfishers head towards to coast where the rivers still have water, maybe it’s been here all year and these pools have enough fish to sustain the Kingfisher’s diet or maybe it’s just returned. Hopefully, in 4 to 6 weeks we’ll have enough rain to get the river in full life again.
Right at the start of the clip, watch in the centre for the shadow of it hovering. The timing on this clip is unedited and the hovering and 2 dives are in realtime as it happened. I can’t quite make out what the 2 birds having a bath are, but it’s comical to see them hop out of the way of this superfast diver!
It must be sitting in a Tree up on the riverbank and launching itself from there, later today I will make a lower down perch from Bamboo to see if it uses this instead then hopefully get some better footage. Of course, I would love to be there taking photos, but I’m still awaiting news on my 500mm repair and don’t want to get too close with my 300mm.
It just keeps getting better the amount of local wildlife that is surrounding this amazing place we live.
{Remember to watch in HD if possible}Nikon Photo of the Day
You can imagine how chuffed I am for them to make it “Photo of the Day”.
Kingfisher and Kestrel from a day in Worcestershire
On Tuesday I spent the day on a Nikon School Day with pro Chris Gomersall near Droitwich in Worcestershire.
The first hide was to capture a Little Owl coming to feed on some Mealworms, however, this wasn’t successful, although we heard it’s distinctive call in the tree above the hide, it never came down to feed.
Next up was the Kingfisher hide where we had 4 visits from a young Female, fantastic to get so close to this stunning bird and here’s a few shots from that session.
{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}