Continuing the obsession

Another day, another kingfisher, or in this case another three kingfishers. I am starting to see subtle differences between each bird to the point where I can identify which one I am photographing. The males are typically much brighter and vibrant in their colours (showoffs!) and the females have the duller colours.  The immature birds according to the books I have been reading are the ones with the mottled markings on their breasts - I have seen a few of these also.

Female

The books tell me that kingfishers in New Zealand breed from October to January, however it has been a long dry summer and the behaviour I have been observing would suggest they are currently feeding a nest. Every second crab was whisked off back into the trees and possibly a burrow near by, and there was a pair who were doing this task in relay.

Two females - one possibly immature

One of the kingfishers clearly spotted me (I think it was the female) and she kept a watch on me from time to time, but didn't seem that threatened by the camera. I was photographing them from inside the car and had taken the hood off the lens to reduce the size of it hanging out the window. If I get out of the car, or get any closer they are gone. They are very clear about the space issue and will not tolerate you getting into their space at all.

Mature Male

Mature Male

Down the hatch! - Mature Female

Another obsession

Ok I admit it, I get a little obsessive about my photography. Right now the obsession is on Kingfishers. But it is the obsessive part that allows me to get the images I want, it gives me focus and determination to improve all the time. I did it with the Waxeyes, and be warned, I am not finished with them yet, and I am now doing it with the kingfishers. Both birds are small and fast and thankfully a lot of what I learned with the waxeyes, I can apply to the kingfishers.

The main lesson learned in both cases is patience. I have never been good at it and get bored very easily, but I can also be stubborn and it is that characteristic that I am using with these little bullet birds. I know what can be achieved and I am determined to get there no matter how long it takes. I might get (well do get) frustrated at times with one thing or another but I am not about to give up until I get what I want.

Having learned just how close I can get to the kingfishers with using the car as a hide, I am not really trying anything else at the moment. Eliminating the birds fear of me has given me a huge advantage that I am not about to give up easily. When I have exhausted all the possibilities with this spot then I will look at some other form of portable hide so that I can do the same elsewhere without the car.

In this set of images I moved away from the sweet spot on my lens and tried to blur the background out more. It would have helped if I could get down lower but that is not possible so I have to compromise in other areas. I am happy with the results so far.

White-faced Herons

Adult White-faced Heron fishing for dinner

It was a delight to be able to observe a white-faced heron family interacting with each other at the inlet yesterday evening. Two juvenile birds were constantly being chased by an adult. I don't know if they were from the same family but I choose to believe so. The two young ones were fighting over a log to stand on, and in the end neither of them got to keep it as the adult bird chased them both off.

Juvenile White-faced Heron

I was actually waiting for the Kingfishers to arrive, I managed to get to the inlet before the tide had gone out too far and was curious to see at what point they showed up. I had changed up my camera settings in an effort to reduce noise and improve the background in the images. The herons kept me fully entertained until the kingfisher arrived.

Juvenile White-faced Heron

Actually it was rather interesting, the herons hung around the kingfisher's log until the water receded beyond the log, and it was at that point that they flew off and the kingfisher flew in. I didn't see them both there at the same time throughout the entire evening. The herons kept their distance only moving in closer once the kingfisher had flown off.  They were both fishing for crabs, so were competing for the food.

Juvenile with crab

I wonder if the herons are interested in cleaning up the pile of crab legs that the kingfishers leave under their logs. As the tide went further out, the kingfishers were more active.  I managed a few shots of them, but they can be another post, this one is for the herons.

Adult strutting in to sort out the youngsters

Adult taking control of the log.

Studying your subject

I have heard many times that if you want to photograph something well then you need to study your subject. In Nature this becomes even more important in my thinking, as most of my subjects are moving living creatures. My focus of late has been on the kingfishers (kotare) and in the short time that I have been photographing them I have learnt a lot about their behaviour.

Kingfishers are territorial. From a photographers point of view this is fantastic as it means they will always be in the same place when they are out fishing. Another important fact is that they are very skittish and don't like you to get very close to them at all. One step too close and they are gone!

One of the most interesting things about the kingfisher that I noticed last night when I was out taking these images, is that they don't like to eat whole crabs. Once they have caught the crab they will fly back to a branch, usually a substantial one, and then bash the crab from side to side on the branch or log.

They are not trying to kill the crab, they are removing its legs so they can swallow the body. I found this behaviour fascinating to watch. I am sure if you went and looked under the logs you would find a huge amount of discarded crab legs.

Another interesting thing I noticed last night was that the kingfisher wags its tail like a dog when it is scoping out the area for food. When the tail wagging stops, then the camera needs to be ready because it is about to take off. I am finding it easier to predict their movements purely from observing their behaviour patterns.

If there is one thing that is essential when photographing kingfishers, it is patience. They work a circuit within their territory so when one area has been fished, they will move on to the next. If you try and follow them you will end up losing them completely. It is much better to find yourself a comfy seat and wait for them to return to you.

Day's Bay, Eastbourne

After the sunset.

Today's images are starting at the end. Yesterday evening we went round to Day's Bay in Eastbourne to capture another sunset. Once the sun had gone and the sky grew dark I got to play with long exposures to smooth out the water. I really enjoyed the contrast between the wharf and the water, and the muted soft colours of the hills in the background.  The long exposure has given this image light where there was none and I like it a lot!

The sun starting to drop behind the hills.

The sun was just going down when I finished setting up my camera and chair. This was the only opportunity I had to get the colours reflected on the water itself. The brightness of the sun made the image darker than it actually was and rather than correct it I decided I liked it this way.

Gulls soaking up the last of the sun.

I am a fan of silhouettes and when I saw the gulls lined up on the wharf I couldn't resist a shot or three. They were soaking up the last of the sunshine. As the sun went down behind the hills the sky found its golden glow. I love this time of night and was very happy with the image below.

Sunset at Day's Bay, Eastbourne

Kingfisher doing what he does best!

This afternoon we headed over to Pauatahanui to see if the kingfishers were about. I had parked the car off the road in such a way that I could just move the seat back, open the window and use the car as a hide. It worked a treat, within a few minutes a kingfisher flew to the log not far from where I had parked.

I watched and photographed him for about fifteen minutes before he took off to clean up another patch of mud. I think I saw him eat about six crabs in that time. It seemed like he enjoyed playing with his food a bit too, though I am not sure what turning your head upside down does for your digestion.

I managed to capture him in flight, but again these are small crops and quite noisy. I am not sure how to get them any better at the moment. Research is required I think.

Something Different

Just before sunset the light was golden.

A friend of mine has been photographing lots of sunsets just lately, she is particularly good at it and her images are beautiful to look at. Last night I decided it was time I gave it another go myself. The last time I was photographing sunsets I was still using P mode on the camera, so this was an exercise in doing it in manual.

As the sun went down we were treated to pinks and reds in the sky and in the reflections.

I am constantly amazed at how quickly the sky changes at sunset and how many different changes there are in that short space of time. All of these images were taken on the same evening, yet they look so totally different. They are shown here in chronological order.

I moved to a slightly different spot to change the image foreground.

I played around with the shutter speed trying to soften the water while still keeping some of the birds in focus. Very tricky as the birds wouldn't hover exactly where I wanted them to.In the end I gave up on the birds - this time they were not my primary focus!

Same spot just looking in the other direction

These last couple of images are probably my favourites. I am really pleased with the results of the evening's shoot. I enjoyed the company of friends, had a few laughs and came away with my own beautiful sunset images. An exercise I definitely plan to repeat before the summer is gone.

After the sun was gone I played a bit more with shutter speeds to soften the water.