Kingfishers - Star Performers at Lackford

We decided to get to Lackford early, though we were certainly not the first by a long way in the hide. We had some early sightings of the female (last four images - red under the bill) consuming a dragonfly larva. just as john and Christine turned up,  a wonderful display by a young male who repeatedly flew and settled on all the perches around the inlet. He dived a few times (missed those!) and looked extra good with water droplets. Flight shots not quite sharp but show the action.

Heron, Kingfisher and Friends at Lackford Lakes

The small birds were sheltering on a very blustery day at Lackford Lakes yesterday but made up for by being able to photograph Kingfisher among the summer flowers, grumpy Heron, Great Crested Grebe with fish, pursued by its young(look at its huge paddle yellow feet) and Cormorants who didn't keep to the odd number rule for good composition.

 

Bored Kingfisher at Rye Meads RSPB Reserve

The male kingfisher visited the nesting bank twice during my visit and stayed for nearly half an hour looking very bored. Very distant shots but still lovely to observe and photograph. The Gadwall and Teal are clearly paired up and look very smart. Surprised to see a fresh crop of Glistening Inkcaps (Coprinellus micaceus) in a tree stump though they are one of the first toadstools to appear

 

Misty Walk Barton to Cambridge via Grantchester

Rather than battle with Cambridge traffic, we decided to walk into Cambridge, parking the car at Barton and passing over the M11. Here are some shots from the walk including a final image of a Kingfisher which obligingly perched on branches in Cambridge City by Hobson's Conduit

The Great Fen Project and Clever Gadwalls

The Great Fen is a habitat restoration project in Cambridgeshire. It is one of the largest restoration projects in the country, and aims to create a 3,700 hectare wetland connecting Woodwalton Fen National Nature Reserve (NNR), Holme Fen NNR and other nature reserves to create a very large conservation site. We had intended visiting last year but somehow the months went by so we were determined to make it in 2016. Woodwalton Fen has a sixeable population of Bittern and also Harriers and Red Kites. We only saw Buzzards in the air but were fortunate to glimpse 2 Bitterns. A return visit definitely on the books.

While waiting for bittern action, I spent time observing the Gadwall ducks - an unusually large number present on a deep Mere (they are dabbling ducks). They were pursuing Coots especially when they dived for food. I researched this on the internet and found a large amount of literature on Kleptoparasitism in Gadwalls. This learned behaviour of pirating food off Coots is thought to be responsible for the large increase in Gadwall numbers in the UK.

Lackford Lakes 10 o'clock Kingfisher

A Kingfisher has arrived at around 10 o'clock each time with have been to Lackford recently and at 10.12am it was there on its perch waiting for a portrait. Tried to guess where it would enter the water but only got the reflection. Adult Great Crested Grebe busy catching fish and offering to its youngster.

Kingfishers and Image Corruption

I borrowed Phil's 400 DO lens yesterday and ran it off my Canon 1D mark IV at Lackford Lakes. Generally pleased with results but, unfortunately a large number of files were corrupt giving very interesting artifacts but not helpful when the best in a sequence always seemed to be the ones not useable.
Here are some Kingfisher images - he (no red on mandible) caught 3 fish - one so small not really worth the effort and hovered a couple of times in front of some reeds.