UKH

My June bird photo challenge was to get a photo of a Kingfisher. I’ve never got close enough to Kingfishers before to even try and take a photo so this was one of my hardest of my monthly challenges. I’d already failed on getting photos of the February and May birds in the challenge so was not expecting to get a Kingfisher.

However, a timely lucky break this past week and photos captured. They were happy to pose for photographs. Mix of adult and juvenile birds. I believe the juveniles have been chased anyway now and the adult pair are back on the nest for a second brood.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Top left shot is an absolute joy. 

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Great stuff. TBH, slightly disappointed that you didn’t manage a poo photo

Was chatting to a very knowledgeable  birder, who informed me they regularly have 3 broods, the first as early as February. 

Ed: saw a red kite from that place the other week - high up mind you. 

In reply to Bottom Clinger:

🤣  Nearly did! Have you seen them poo though - it’s a process quicker than the speed they fly! I had put the camera down only some 2 sec before one relieved itself and it was like a bullet firing into the water!!

Managed to get pics of them eating though. At least I was lucky getting photos; one birder had been waiting 5 hours one day and never saw one.

I had read that about 3 broods, and up to 7 eggs a brood. Apparently most only live 2 years, sadly.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Harsh winters can really hammer them. 

In reply to Climbing Pieman: lovely pics . This aft I went outside of the house I’m working on to see an tiny barn owl hunting in the fields behind in broad daylight and very close to where I was stood ( as still as I could ) . In nearly 40 years of being outside  only seen an owl in daylight a handful of times . What a beautiful  weird looking creature . Wish I’d had even a phone to hand , but rather than run to my van decided to stand really still And enjoy . One of his / her  ( they / then / their ) passes was within about 4 m of where I stood . Made my day .

In reply to mike123:

Excellent. A Barn owl was the photo I needed for February in the challenge that I never got (still not seen one). Maybe one day. I was delighted though to get Kingfisher photos and just to watch them.

In reply to Bottom Clinger:

Have just spent the evening at Old Hall Marshes in Essex (at a wedding near Chelmsford this afternoon and couldn't go to the dinner, so whilst wife enjoying herself, went birdwatching).

What an evening:

• Today's annoying "you can hear me but you can't see me" warbler - Cetti's, even had one within 10 feet of me in a bush/tree, calling away knowing I had zippo chance of spotting it.
• Sedge Warblers - easy spot
• Reed Warbler - probably saw more than one but definitely saw one on a reed for a few seconds.

Now the good bits...

• After the initial warbler noises saw not one, nor two but three Cuckoo's virtually flying together (after seeing one a couple of times just flying away)
• The usual Redshanks, Black-tailed Godwits etc, then met someone who's obviously been here before, told me he'd seen a couple of Spotted Redshank.
• So, looking at a pool that had about 50 Black-tailed Godwits, scanning them, couple of small waders fly in, Spotted Redshank virtually in summer plumage - not seen them for nearly 50 years.
• I go to move the scope to a slightly better position but they've gone, I scan the Godwits and the rest of the pool to check, what's that floaty white bird in the distant background - Barn Owl - lifetime tick. But it's a good quarter of a mile away.
• Walk along the track a bit, round a bend, the owl's sitting on the fence, about 50m away. Pale phase bird, very pale, stunning view of it.
• When I move closer it flys along a bit and then into the next "field" at which point a male Marsh Harrier flies past.
• I then end up on the bank with both the owl and the harrier in view, which should I be watching. Every time I get too close, the owl moves along a few posts - great views of both birds.
• The grey plovers (one in breeding plumage), single dunlin in breeding plumage and the badger that runs in front of the car on the way back to the hotel are all just bonuses.

What an evening  😁

Edit: Forgot to mention the pair of Egyptian Geese, even though a lot of UK sightings/birds originate from escapees, etc, I've never seen one before.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Struggling to decide which of those is my favourite, so I've given up. They're all stunning shots.

The preening and about to dive shots are the more interesting but the static portraits are also brilliant examples of their genre. Well done.

You've mentioned many times that you're a "beginner" with respect to bird identification. You wouldn't know it from the quality of your photos - top notch.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

did you place any of these perches to attract the bird to your favored observation spot ?

In reply to Michael Hood:

No. 1 is my preference of those. Actually my favourite I’ve not posted, but similar pose though with a better natural background with a moody intense style. It’s now my wallpaper on tablet to view every day. Eye of the beholder and all that.

My bird photography has come on lots since I started last year, and more so this year. I’ve got better noise reduction so don’t have to even think about ISO. No. 1 photo was shot at ISO 3200 and last year with my then set up that would have been poor and grainy and most photographers would have binned it.

I’m enjoying my photos more now. All last year’s practice is coming together more frequently.

In reply to LeeWood:

This was a lucky find for me and not an area I expected; no indication last year and no reported sightings.

I don’t place perches etc, preferring a natural it is what it is photo as my personal choice. However, in photos 3&4 someone must have placed the branches, though I think they may have been there for while (I saw them last year). In another adjacent loch it was obvious there were two newly pre placed stick for perching this year. The reed is natural and the post itself in photo 2 is actually there holding the water level gauge for the loch though. I cropped to take out the scale as I didn’t like it!

That site has had Kingfishers in the past, but I was told they have been absent for 5 yrs. It is an NNR with hides and there are various areas within where photographers have obviously set up the background (and change it repeatedly), so in this case it was easy to get photos. The Kingfishers were happy to be near the hides and sit for extended periods in between fishing. I’m sure if you go online there will be hundreds or thousands of almost identical photos from that location in the last two weeks. It was incredibly busy with bird photographers being such a gift of a site this year with their return,

Bottom Clinger is aware of the site and how close the Kingfishers came to the hides, and I think that it was in other main loch with the pre placed branches that he took his recently posted Kingfisher photo.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Our local river hosts kingfishers - at times. I've started scheming to pose a perch or two because frankly there are not so many natural opportunities - a council workforce team blaze through periodically and smarten everything up ... for human fishers that is. Which means clearing anything fallen or suspended out over the surface.

Otherwise, the river is v shady - placing a perch in a more luminous zone would be essential to help freeze the action.