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Another Shot From The “Dark Perch”

Just another shot of the juvenile male Common Kingfisher from a few days ago at my “Dark Perch“. This time he’s got his back facing me showing off his typical “go-faster stripe.”

I have a new location ready to go, clouds depending, I’ll be there in the morning, not sure how they’ll react to this one as I have to use my pop-up hide and not sure if they will be happy around it.

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Common Kingfisher (Juvenile Male) - Guarda-rios (juvenil macho) - Alcedo atthis
📷 Nikon D850, AF-S 500mm f/4 @ 1/640sec, f/11, ISO450Continue reading >>

Young Kingfishers Are Now Out Of The Nests

It’s taken a long-time this year to get these particular shots of the Kingfishers which started many months ago, originally with the adults.

I have been trying to get very dark backgrounds to create an almost studio-like image. I appreciate that these style of photographs are not to everyone’s taste, but the idea was to create a contrast to bring out the detail in the feathers.

The problem I have had this year is that every time I set the scene, the river has dried out before I manage to capture any shots. However, I found an area where the river has pooled and it seems to be a popular dive spot. This scene has been set for 3 days, however, every morning since has been cloudy. I was awake at 6am this morning and again, the skies were unseasonably cloudy. Slightly later, there seemed be a large gap in the cloud cover so I headed down to the river and got lucky before the cloud re-appeared.

There was a pair of juveniles at the spot, unfortunately, the female didn’t come out into the light, but the male was very happy on the perch. The light still wasn’t great, but good enough even though I was shooting with a slightly slower shutter speed to what I was hoping for. Luckily, he stayed still enough for long enough!

The big giveaway that this is a young male is the legs, you’ll notice that they are not bright coloured, adult Kingfishers have very bright coloured legs.

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Common Kingfisher (Juvenile Male) - Guarda-rios (juvenil macho) - Alcedo atthis
📷 Nikon D850, AF-S 500mm f/4 @ 1/640sec, f/8, ISO500Continue reading >>

An Afternoon At The River Looking For Opportunities

I was a new location on the river that we discovered a few days ago and was looking for options for some closeup Kingfisher shots, the Kingfishers are getting really brave now.

Although I wasn’t there to take photos, I did take the camera down. Here is just a quick shot of a male Kingfisher sitting in the tree watching me, then just as I was leaving, Iberian Magpies where coming down for a late afternoon bath.


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Tiddlers….!

Whenever I have placed a perch in the river to attract a Kingfisher it has worked amazingly well. However, my recent attempts have been in unsuccesful. While I’ve waited paitently hidden on the river bank I have seen them just fly straight past up and down stream. It then occured why…..

NO FISH! The river seemed to be completely empty of any “Tiddler” sized fish, the food of the Kingfisher. I don’t understand the life-cycle of seasonal rivers but it was enough for me to be slightly concerned. Others have suggested that the warmer weather will bring them out and they were right!

Yesterday was the first real (almost) hot day in the Algarve with temperatures not only exceeding mid-20s, but also the sun’s angle is now high enough to make it very strong. So, I wandered down to the river this morning and it has LOTS of tiddlers, what happened next was an amazing surprise!


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Morning Dog Walk: Fresh Otter Evidence

I take a camera along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.

Although I have been successful at a different river location nearby, my local Otters still remain very elusive. This morning, there is fresh evidence of Otter activity down at the river.

First I noticed fresh footprints in the wet mud.


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Proper Algarve January Weather

It doesn’t rain in the Algarve very often, but in January, due to its close proximity to the Atlantic we can have some real heavy rain.

The last 2 days have been no exception and it’s not uncommon to see heavy showers at this time of year. Yesterday we saw some incredible heavy, often thundery showers roll in from the West coast. Of course, this is great news for a country that can live on the edge of drought. This is not only good for our local area’s wildlife and human demands, but of course, the Odelouca flows into the Barragem de Odelouca which provides the majority of drinking water to the Algarve.

The River Odelouca that runs through our land is just about in flood and the road bridge is now a ford which is not uncommon this time of year. Of course, it baffles hikers who are following one of the Algarve Walking Trails that crosses here!

Bridge Now a Ford
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