My meeting with the Common Kingfisher

I have been trying to work with the Common Kingfisher before, but they have always eluded me. Last weekend I visited a place in the south of Sweden where I saw a huge potential even if that morning was a disaster.

So, I decided early last week that I wanted to go back to have another try to see what that could bring. That meant that the alarm went off at 3:30 in the morning and 40 minutes later I sat in the car for the two hours’ drive. My hope was to get different types of light during the morning as the forecast had told me overcast.

The drive was uneventful and when I arrived the sky was cloudless and the sun was rising. Not exactly what I had hoped for, but I surely couldn’t say it was overcrowded as there just where two other photographers there.

I unfolded my new Ameristep Doghouse Blind and put it at a spot to my liking. It didn’t take long for the Kingfisher to appear. The light was poor so I did like I often do in those conditions, record a video.

Video: Common Kingfisher bashing fish

This video is not from the first visit, but from one of the first. The Kingfisher has just caught a fish and is bashing it before swallowing it whole. Sadly you hear the cameras from the others when they rattle away to capture this moment.

The second video from the morning is when the Kingfisher is sitting just a couple of meters from my hide preening itself. It was a pleasure to see how relaxed the little bird where compared to the weekend before and it is actually plucking a feather and throwing it away in the video.

Video: Common Kingfisher preening

I think you get a good feeling for how quick they are just by looking at this short video.

The morning was intense and there were at least two birds present over the pond. They might have been more, but I saw two individuals chasing each other over the pond.

The light got really bright when the sun reached the parts of the pond where I sat and that made for hard shadows and less interesting photos. One of the first photos from the morning is probably the one I would rate as the best.

So what makes this picture for me?

Well it is the background together and that you can see the bright blue feathers at the back of the bird. If you look closely at the Kingfshers eye at full screen you will also notice the clear morning with the rising sun. That is a nice extra touch.

I left the place just after three hours when the activity died. I made two stops on way back home to Gothenburg at Grötvik and Morups Tånge. You find pictures from both places together with more pictures from my first, but surely not last, meeting with the Common Kingfisher.