Kingfishers

theartist · Dec 13, 2015

Been fishing a few times lately and it's been dour, dreary and at times pretty dreadful weather. Can't really remember the last time I was out with the sun on my back so the only bit of colour has been the resident kingfishers. Now I also can't remember the last trip I went on where I DIDN'T see one of these little blue wonders which was bought home by a group of elderly walkers behind me who went mental when they saw one, it made their day and why shouldn't it? It was if they knew I was taking them for granted when one put on a show in front of me last time out bobbing up and down on the bush opposite with a plop every now and then (The Kingfisher that is not the walkers!) Also my mother in law is a bird watcher who goes to those rspb hide places and she's never seen one yet we get a daily show.

Not sure what my point is other than to 'big up' something special that we see as routine, are we lucky or what?

wanderer · Dec 13, 2015

Yep, beats concrete cows hands down, Deer, Red Kites, feeding Pheasants and foxes, i am glad i am a country boy, the city would be like a prison to me, how different people are.

binka · Dec 13, 2015

My customers have known me for a good twenty years and are familiar with my fishing to the point of me giving them regular updates when I see them, without exception the city and many of the town based ones are amazed when you mention Kingfishers.

Add to that otter, mink, deer, peregrines etc and I think we are blessed with the regular spectacle of something that others would think so unusual.

Perks of the job I guess

sumtime · Dec 13, 2015

I'm always on the lookout for wildlife when fishing, it's a bonus, sometimes I'll stop my fishing when bites are plentiful just to watch a kingfisher, seal, voles etc.

Mark Wintle · Dec 13, 2015

I think that as anglers we get used to LISTENING for kingfishers and then spot them. I see them frequently (and otters more often than ever) and when walkers say they never see them I teach them to listen for the call then look out. The kingfishers are back this year but 3 years ago were scarce following cold winters and floods.

Hugh Bailey · Dec 13, 2015

binka said:
Add to that otter, mink, deer, peregrines etc and I think we are blessed with the regular spectacle of something that others would think so unusual.

Absolutely with you on that - we are so lucky as anglers - we do see so much that would be considered special. About the peregrines - down here in the south, they are becoming much more common now - they have taken to using tall buildings as "cliffs" . We have some in my home town - have been around, and breeding, for a few years now - they are just spectacular! Make shopping a bit more bearable when you can watch them for a while.

thecrow · Dec 13, 2015

Maybe if walkers e.t.c were to take heed of Isaac's words about studying to be quiet they would see more.

Pete Shears · Dec 13, 2015

Groups of walkers are usually too noisy & looking where their feet are going / and or map to notice much at all - being quiet when fishing is when the wildlife just regards you as part of the scenery which moves now & again - it was the wildlife when fishing that got me into photography, had my own darkroom developing films & prints . . . .and along came digital . . .

maggot_dangler · Dec 13, 2015

theartist said:
Been fishing a few times lately and it's been dour, dreary and at times pretty dreadful weather. Can't really remember the last time I was out with the sun on my back so the only bit of colour has been the resident kingfishers. Now I also can't remember the last trip I went on where I DIDN'T see one of these little blue wonders which was bought home by a group of elderly walkers behind me who went mental when they saw one, it made their day and why shouldn't it? It was if they knew I was taking them for granted when one put on a show in front of me last time out bobbing up and down on the bush opposite with a plop every now and then (The Kingfisher that is not the walkers!) Also my mother in law is a bird watcher who goes to those rspb hide places and she's never seen one yet we get a daily show.

Not sure what my point is other than to 'big up' something special that we see as routine, are we lucky or what?

Hi Artist
Carefull what you say about Kingfishers else someone will turn around and say they need culling because they eat fish ....

PG ...

john step · Dec 13, 2015

I also regularly see kingfishers. Also barn owls,buzzards etc. Otter and mink will put in an appearance.
I once saw an osprey re fueling on roach on my club lake on its journey from Scotland to Africa.
Once on the Warping Drain a barn owl flew across towards me and was about to land, talons outstretched on my pike rod until at the last moment it realised its mistake and veered off.
My father at 91 (good genes) is an avid twitcher and tells me his group doesn't see what I do. Thats because they mill around in a gaggle scaring everything off!!:wh

no-one in particular · Dec 14, 2015

Walt through a wood and you wont see much; sit quietly in a glade and in time you will see a lot more. Its the same for anglers, that's why we tend to see more, especially Kingfishers which are basically a shy bird. The winter of 63 nearly wiped them out, down to a 100 pairs or something like that. Now I hardly ever fail to see one or two every time I go fishing. Had one land on my rod once, seeing all the colours like that at close quarters was a revelation.
Peregrines were the same but for a different reason, the DDT poisoning made them infertile and also their egg shells brittle so they broke when they sat on them. Went down to just a few pairs. They are now back to their optimum numbers, about 2000 pairs I think since these pesticides were banned..
I am treated to watching them in Somerset where my sister has a pair that nest every year on the cliffs very near her house. Watching them train their young to hunt is a real spectacle. they sometimes get a ball of sea weed and drop it in mid air for their young to catch; fabulous stuff..
I think angling provides us with a ideal situation for seeing wildlife and its a great bonus; I try to make the most of it. I always carry a pair of binos in my bag..

Neil Maidment · Dec 14, 2015

Mark W. is right, most river anglers are attuned to the sounds of the surrounding area. I certainly hear Kingfishers well before I see them.

Sept last year I was lucky enough to capture a set of images from the Severn. Plenty of Kingfishers around but one kept coming back to the same area. I sat there for well over an hour taking hundreds of images and eventually captured a handful.

Using a perch well downstream it eventually came into open view. I used 20X, 30X and 50X optical zoom, hand held, to get the shots.

View image in gallery

steve2 · Dec 14, 2015

I always see far more when fishing than I ever do on the RSPB reserves I visit.
There is one breeding pair of Kingfishers on the reserve and people sit in the hide for hours hoping to see them.
Take up fishing and see wild life in the wild. Just today I was watching the great crested grebes fishing and catching far more than me.

robtherake · Dec 15, 2015

Only seen a couple this year. Don't think the shock of that bright bolt of blue zipping past will ever fade; it always snaps you wide awake from whatever musings occupy your mind. Used to fish a little club pool where they regularly mistook my parked float rod for a handy branch, offering the briefest of close inspections before Mr Blue took fright and whirred off. It's an experience so fleeting that each subsequent meeting is always as wondrous as the first.

S-Kippy · Dec 15, 2015

Neil Maidment said:
Mark W. is right, most river anglers are attuned to the sounds of the surrounding area. I certainly hear Kingfishers well before I see them.

Sept last year I was lucky enough to capture a set of images from the Severn. Plenty of Kingfishers around but one kept coming back to the same area. I sat there for well over an hour taking hundreds of images and eventually captured a handful.

Using a perch well downstream it eventually came into open view. I used 20X, 30X and 50X optical zoom, hand held, to get the shots.

View image in gallery

That's a great shot, Neil. Really nice.

fruitowl · Dec 15, 2015

I do love the sight of these graceful and beautiful birds I also love the cheeky little robins that are nervous when you first set up but with n a few hours are with in inches of you especially when you give them a few maggots.

pointngo · Dec 15, 2015

Where I regularly fish I usually see at least 5 kingfishers a day.. not much distracts you from a lure rod but the flash of blue snaps you out of your concentration for a few seconds without fail. Had one land 3ft from me last year, dipped into the water for a fish, then shot off... closest I've ever been to one.

I usually see a pair of buzzards there as well and often pretty close. Even walked almost right up to one last year in the early morning half light before it saw me and took off. I hadn't seen it and it nearly gave me a heart attack when it launched into the air not 25ft away. Big birds when you get close! Also saw one drop out of a tree onto a rabbit at Esthwaite.. it didn't want to share it with it's mate though and they had a right old ruck over it, right in front of the boat.

I didn't know you can get completely white, red kites until I saw one a few years ago and looked it up when I got home. At the same venue there was a bright white pheasant as well... he was lightning fast along the ground which is probably why the kites hadn't caught him.

Even had a close encounter with an eagle owl once on a lake! Thing came flying down a track I was walking along and I ended up in the bushes with tackle all over the place... bumped into a bloke who's bird it was just after and got chatting to him. On his arm it was a real beast of a bird, stunningly beautiful!

As anglers, we see more of the natural world than 99.9% of the population and it's an absolute privilige, and probably a big part of why a lot of us go fishing.

binka · Dec 15, 2015

pointngo said:
not much distracts you from a lure rod but the flash of blue snaps you out of your concentration for a few seconds without fail.

Now, I would imagine that's exactly part of the reason you're so successful with the lure.

With me it's the opposite way around and after a cast at the beginning of the retrieve it's a nice opportunity to have a good butchers around at what's going on, scratch me foot with the other leg and think about what I'm having for tea.

Basically anything other than what I should be concentrating on whilst I wait for the rod to almost get ripped out of my hands...

Which unsurprisingly never happens

chub_on_the_block · Dec 16, 2015

Since i got back fishing again about six years ago I reckon i see a Kingfisher on most sessions (probably 70%) - whether I am fishing in Hertfordshire, on the Wye, in Norfolk or wherever. This contrasts massively with the mid 1970s - mid 1980s when i fished many hundreds of times but cant recall ever seeing one - despite being a Young Ornithologist and RSPB member at the time!

Kingfishers

theartist

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wanderer

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binka

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sumtime

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Mark Wintle

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Hugh Bailey

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thecrow

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Pete Shears

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maggot_dangler

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john step

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no-one in particular

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Neil Maidment

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steve2

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robtherake

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S-Kippy

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fruitowl

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pointngo

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binka

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chub_on_the_block

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