A bonus with Kingfishers.

One of my elder brothers is a fishery bailiff at a pond near to his home. Some of his duties include maintaing the paths around the pond and making sure that the swims for the fishermen are kept tidy and clear from too much undergrowth. Recently he dug out some of the banks of the swims. A few weeks later he phoned me to say that a pair of Kingfishers had nested in the bank of one of the swims. He immediately cordoned it off so the birds never got disturbed. You need a license to photograph Kingfishers at the nest site, but not only was it too enclosed and I did not want to disturb them under any cicumstances, I was more interested in when the young fledged and were around the pond waiting to be fed. So I asked him to keep an eye on them and let me know when the young left the nest.

A few weeks later the phone call came to say that they had left the nest that morning. I was already out that day with a friend over at Minsmere. We had been lucky enough to see a pair of Spoonbill there and also three Bittern, one of which, we watched for at least tweny minutes hunting in the reeds. Every so often, it would reach up and pick an insect off of the reeds, something I had never seen before. So with a successful morning already. we went to the pond to see if we could see the young Kingfishers. As soon as we got htere we could hear the young Kingfishers calling and it wasn't hard to find them. It was a good brood too with at least four young, possibly five. Soon we had crept into a good position to watch them and there was one that I was able to slowly get near enough to start to photograph.

I was preoccupied with the Kingfisher, so never noticed what was giong on behind me. My friend suddenly whispered that a Stoat had come up right behind us in the undergrowth and then a couple of minutes later it had gone back. About five minutes later, it done it again. Again I didn't see it, but when it done it a third time, this time I did see it. It was going to the same place,and after carefully parting the undergrowth, I found a hole that went in under some tree roots. I could only assume that it either had young there or that it had a food source it was coming back to, perhaps a nest of young mice. So I set the camera up just off the route it was coming in from and waited.

It wasn't long before I heard a noise and could see not one, but two Stoats. One was only about two thirds the size of the other. It soon became clear what was happening. It was a female moving her kitts. Sure enough, she grabbed the kitt by the scruff of the neck and went down the hole with it, to appear by herself a couple of minutes later and go off again in the direction she had come. I quickly re-positioned myself so I could see the hole and waited to see if she would come back with another kitt. I had got a shot of her and was hopefull that I may get a couple more shots. Again, about five minutes later I was to get my chance, as back she came dragging another three quarter grown kitt. 

This time though, she went down the hole first leaving the kitt outside. This enabled me to get three controlled shots as it was looking around. The last shot was of it looking straight up into the camera lens! It then wandered into the hole and she then came out and went off presumably to fetch another kitt. I did not hang around to find out though as I didn't want to disturb them. So I slipped away making sure that the hole was well concealed once again. The following morning I was back again to try for the young Kingfishers.

After an hour or so of just sitting and watching, I finally settled into a place that they seemed to be favouring. I was prepared for a wait, but within ten minutes, one of the youngsters came and sat right in front of me on a fallen Ash Tree. At first it was behind branches but it eventually moved into a more suitable spot. It was quite shady where I was but I was pleased with the results. Not perfect but this is wildlife photography. You cant expect wild creatures to pose in the perfect position all of the time, so you take your chances when you can. Personally, I like to see a bit if the surroundings as it gives the shot a more natural feel and not one that is staged. 

Once I felt I had got enough shots, I just sat back a while and watched it. Then I left it to it and slipped away. I intended to go back a couple of days later but other commitments cropped up and I didn't have the chance. A few weeks later though, my brother phoned to say that the Kingfishers were again nesting in the same hole. This was no real suprise as they normally try to have two or sometimes three clutches of eggs. So now the waiting game begins again for the next lot of young to fledge, so I can have another go at getting some shots of them. And who knows, I may be lucky as with the Stoats and get another bonus next time.