I have been experimenting with some new perches for our Yew View kingfisher and they took pretty readily to this new one. The weather has been so damp and gloomy recently that the footage has not been too good as the light is so poor. Also, as the Bushnell is set above a pond and it has been raining so much, the lens does also become ‘steamed up’ or has water droplets on it. We have captured some good clips though..
This clip shows that they are hunting quite early… just as the sun is rising… the dull conditions mean the Bushnell sometimes remains on IR…
We have captured some hunting clips. There are lots of small fish in the wildlife pond and the kingfishers seem to have a lot of success from this perch…
It seems to be mainly the male visiting (there are at least 2 males) , but we do get occasional clips of one of two females visiting too…
On a rare morning when the sun shone, this individual looked resplendent! Their colours change completely when the low sun lights their feathers and turns them to a stunning aquamarine!…
These individuals are very comfortable here and will often dive in the water and then come up to the perch to preen. It is essential to keep the plumage in good condition and kingfishers regularly preen, helping to maintain the waterproofing on their feathers as well as their insulating properties….
I have gained a tremendous pleasure from studying these kingfishers over 2015 and have captured some of my best Bushnell footage to record.
I have some exciting ideas to take this project onto the next level in 2016… just saving up for a ‘Camtraptions’ kit. This kit is produced by Will Burrard-Lucus and allows you to create a DSLR camera trap. (Click on the images to go to the website)
It is an area of photography I have been really keen to explore and the possibilities at Yew View for this kind of work are fantastic…. so watch this space…. it would be a tremendously exciting project for 2016!