Kingfisher & Co

Today I had my first crack at photographing the notoriously elusive Kingfisher. The speed at which they move was astounding, their activity was scarce and their camouflage was surprisingly affective; this made for a very tedious yet rewarding day. I sat in the hide for a total of 6 hours and had 2 sightings, apparently the pair had been far more active earlier that morning ( a lesson learnt there). The shots are of poor quality but I am very happy to of photographed one of the most difficult subjects in natural history photography.

King fisher watching the Mallards

A thirsty Woodpigeon

Shoveler coming into land, she appears to be 'standing' on the water

Birdlife in Chamonix

Though there were sights of raptors in the french mountains I did not have the equipment or the time to photograph them, happily there were a large amount of 'garden' birds to point my lens at. Here are a few of my strongest shots from the time i spent there... once again I need help identifying one of the species, it had red/orange tail feathers if that helps (2nd photo)

Female House Sparrow feeding

Can anyone identify?

Beak wipe after a meal

Experimental composition with this Song Thrush

Great Tit

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Parakeets in north London

Focusing on a nothing more than a standard Wood Pigeon and not expecting to see much more than a  few Magpies you can imagine my shock when i saw a flash of electric green whizz past my head, i spent about 20 minutes trying to find it again. Eventually high up in the trees i saw a parakeet, the first i'd seen in the capital. Thinking i had found something incredible i got very excited, pointing my 300mm vertically up was strenuous on the neck muscles and i only got some very standard shots.

I later found out there are over 10,000 wild ring-necked Parakeets in London. It was still great to see them in their natural environment; a small woodland next to an estate in the north london borough of Haringey. 

Very good camouflage made them difficult to find

I spotted 3 all together

A very distinctive silhouette when in flight

Regents Park

Here are a few photographs I took in Regents park last week, unfortunately I didn't have long there but I still have a couple of shots I am pleased with. Can anyone identify the first species for me? thanks.

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Coot chick calling for its parent

Coots nest under a bridge

Grey Heron stare

Grey Squirrel behind bars

Wildlife in Jersey

Recently i have spent a couple of weeks in Jersey, the small island has a wealth of wildlife, particularly around st.Ouens bay where most of these shots were taken. I found a very brazen family of Oyster-catchers on Plemet beach which enabled me to get my first good quality shots of this peculiar looking sea bird. 

Starling fight

Juvenile Oyster Cather calling 

Black Swan (probably an escapee) 

Starling flock towards rooftop

Starling pair

Herring Gull

Hover Fly

                                                                      

               


                           

                                     Oyster Catcher