Finally a Kingfisher!

Our first Spinnies visit this year was on May 19th, and today is our sixth time. Each week I go along with a frisson of expectation; will we see the kingfisher today? Each week we’ve been disappointed. There have been compensations of course, and over five king-free weeks I’ve blipped a heron taking off, a swan eating seaweed spaghetti, a shelduck, an eider ménage a trios and a little egret. Hardly slim pickings. 

Today I’m less hopeful. It’s too hot, I think, and the tide is nearly out - hardly the best conditions to spot a kingfisher. And more than that, it’s just gone midday - the worst light for any kind of photography. 

It seems my fears are well-founded; not only are there no kings, there’s hardly anything moving on the water or in the trees. There’s a group of sleepy female mallards grooming on a shaded log, and a moorhen with its one surviving chick - but little else. 

Then suddenly there’s that tell-tale flash of blue across the water - just enough time to grab a blurred flight shot before she’s gone again.  But at least we know she’s in the area. 

We wait. Sure enough, ten minutes later back she comes, this time perching on the branches near the hide. The light is awful - harsh and deeply shadowed - but at least this gorgeous creature is finally here. I take shot after shot as she adjusts position. I’m waiting for a dive into the water, but she gives no clue of his intent. Finally, she takes off along the branch and over to the trees on the far bank, leaving fishing for another time. 

As always, it’s difficult to choose my main, and in the end I go for feather detail over eye. The runner up is in extras together with a collage of my movement shots