In recent weeks a few local photographers have been spending time at Suffolk Wildlife Trusts Hen Reedbed reserve where Kingfishers have been showing very well. The reeds that border one of the dykes near the first hide have been cut back and a post has been added that the Kingfishers seem to have immediately taken advantage of with the bonus that the post is only a few meters from the hide windows. You have to have patience to see these birds as it may be an hour or more between visits to the post and then they might only stay a few seconds but every now and then you might get lucky and a Kingfisher will sit on the post for a few minutes diving to feed on Sticklebacks and shrimps.
With the sun shining over your shoulder the colours in the plumage of these beautiful birds are amazing. The male bird seems to have the deeper and brighter colours and most, if not all these photographs are of the male which can be differentiated from the female by the solid black bill. Female Kingfishers have and orange area on the lower half of the bill.
After some time taking pictures of the Kingfishers on the perch with either fish or shrimps I thought I would experiment and try to get some action shots. Trying to get photographs as the birds dived into the water proved very difficult and I was not altogether really happy with the results but some of these shots taken as they dived from the post or as they returned to it were much better and worthy of inclusion into this blog. I can see myself returning here on more than one occasion in the coming months!
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