Kingfisher hovering

Stodmarsh nature reserve is an excellent place to photograph kingfishers, but I do wish it weren’t so far from home. It’s a lovely drive, but generally takes an hour and a half each way – often more on the way home due to traffic around Canterbury. It’s a small price to pay though.

Every year it seems that I need to make three visits and it was the same this year. My first trip was back in September. The kingfisher hide was full and so I made the rather long trek across the reserve on foot to see the recently escaped scarlet ibis. It must have been at least half a mile away across the fields and yet with the stunning colour, it stood out like a sore thumb. I did take one photograph for record purposes, but it really isn’t worth sharing.

Then I visited in early October and got some lovely shots of a male kingfisher. There are plenty to choose from and I will share them in another post. Twice on that day, he hovered over the lake before diving and twice I managed to get some images, but they weren’t as sharp as I would have liked. I had been taking photographs of him on a stick in front of very bright water, but when he hovered, it was in front of a very dark background. My shutter speed plummeted and of course, there was no time to increase the ISO.

I returned to the reserve on the following day and once again, the bird hovered before diving, but this time the background was much brighter. I managed to get these five photographs before he vanished.