Kingfishers are easy birds to photograph so long as you do it right.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 พ.ย. 2022
- Photographing Kingfishers is usually an easy task. Provide them with a brand new perch and they can’t resist landing on it. They can now fish over a stretch of water they could not cover before. If they catch a fish they will be back and use it as a regular perch.
I use a hide set up very close to the birds and shoot with the Olympus 150-400mm lens and the OM-1 camera for stills pictures. For video I use the Panosonic Lumix GH6.
Sitting in hides is my favourite way of photographing birds. You never know what might turn up.
Mike Lane wildlife photography www.nature-photography.co.uk/
Music credited to Bensound.com
Equipment I use or are mentioned in the videos I produce for TH-cam. These are affiliate links and this channel will receive a small commission at no charge to you.
Olympus Cameras
OLYMPUS OM-D E-M1X Camera amzn.to/36ebMR7
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Other Lenses
Panasonic LUMIX 100-400 mm LEICA Lens amzn.to/3mYb8gD
Tripods
Manfrotto 502 Fluid video Head with flat base amzn.to/30j6fFg
Hides
Photo hide Buteo Mark II One Person amzn.to/2S6H4RF
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Meant to say last week that your bird knowledge is second to none. I started out as a birdwatcher before I became a photographer. And the advantage it gives you knowing your subjects is invaluable. Brilliant vlog mike 👏
Thanks.
Kingfishers flying back and forth at a local steam are like lightening strikes you know they are coming but shock me every time they appear a terrific bird. Thank you for your excellent videos and sharing your knowledge in such detail on Kingfishers, for me they are very interesting and helpful as always. .
Yes they are
We never previously saw them on our stream in December before, but this year a female visits regularly. I think climate change and the warmer temperatures have delayed the exodus to the coast. You're No.1 when it comes to informative and simple videos
They are very variable.
Brilliant! You must be the only Englishman wishing for an overcast day. Great result though!
we get plenty.
Mike you are really outstanding on YT, showing the most expertise in bird photography. You are my goto channel if I am looking for something practical and easy to setup. Thanks a lot for your useful contributions on YT.
Thanks 👍
Thanks Mike for sharing :)
My pleasure
That sound when you hear them coming in!
Easy sound to remember
👌👌❤❤👍👍
You're my hero ;)
Hi Mike, its a pleasure whatching your videos every saturday morning, thanks for putting them up!. You knoledge about birds and how to photograph them is realy outstanding, thanks for sharing!
So nice of you
Great footage, can't get enough of kingfishers, even after photographing them over 25 years.
Thanks.
Thanks.
You're welcome
Last year, my first year of bird photography, I would be apalled if someone told me it's easy to photograph kingfishers - it was so hard for me to get my first decent shot. But now after hundreds of kingy shots, and especially in comparison with truly elusive species like snipes, water rails etc. I would totally agree -- kingies are easy to photograph once you realize how hard it is to photograph some of those other species.
There is a location where they are easy or a method for most species
Hello. I'm a new friend here from Singapore. Thank you so much for sharing the tips on photographing the kingfisher. It's beneficial. Big LIKE. Have a nice day and happy birding.👍🔔
Thanks and welcome
Nice work and advice Mike. Kingfishers are stunning little birds :-)
Yes they are!
First rat tutorial with excellent subject knowledge.
Glad it was helpful!
❤ or just listen lol 🤣 canals have many surprises 🦋🌿🐒
Great video Mike, thank you for sharing your knowledge about bird photograpy with us. I've had the pleasure of photographing kingfishers and it is always a pleasure to see them. Unfortunately there are few kingfishers in Norway, but I'm lucky to live in an area where they have been regurlarly in many years.
Glad you enjoyed it
hi, thank you :) perfect work
You're welcome!
You make everything look easy! Great video! 🙂
I fail a lot.
Excellent video Mike. Didn't realise you could put the hide so close to the perch. Off to photograph Kingfishers on Saturday
Have fun
A masterfully made misson. This video is aslo a demo of how much the experiences play role on the success. Thanks for sharing.
Glad it was helpful!
Great video. There's a kingfisher at a river by my house, seen it a few times but can't photograph it, I'll use your tips. Cheers 👍
Hope it works.
Mike you make it look so easy, but with years of experience and knowledge it should be. Look forward to you vlogs on a saturday morning.
I mostly fail, but they make dull TH-cam films.
these birds are beautiful
Yes indeed
Excellent work Mike there should be a thousand new perches by river banks up and down the land now! Awesome ! Tremendous knowledge of the species and habitat 👍
Unfortunately my local Kingfishers are much harder to find now. Seems far less fish in the rivers.
Perfect Mike. Thank you.
Glad you liked it!
Excellent practical advices, thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Great video and as always I learn something new! Thank you!
Glad to hear it!
Mike great stuff. I will try this next time I am out. Thou cant believe you got that close. My area those birds are EXTREMELY shy for some reason. I will give it a shot much thanks.
Thanks. People always assume they are shy, but it is a very bold species. Fisherman tales of them landing on their rods are true.
@@MikeLaneFRPS lol I will try it out.
Simple and useful. Your hacks are amazing. And the pictures gorgeous!
Glad you like them!
nice video, thanks so much Lane.
No worries!
Good information. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Great work Mike.
Thanks 👍
Beautifull footage!
Many thanks!
Brilliant as always, Mike. Must give this a go sometime.
Please do!
Thanks, Mike. We have the belted kingfisher in my area. I believe they are a good bit larger and more wary than the ones you are photographing. :)
Same here in the middle of California. Belted Kingfishers are wary of people. Setting up a hide to shoot in is also an anomaly worth a visit from the police. LOL
Thanks for the info
Great video thanks Mike, will try it out on the Australian Kingfishers.
I believe it works well with other water based kingfishers.
Very good informative video
Glad you liked it
Great video, thanks for sharing! Kind regards, Rolf
Many thanks!
Hi Mike. Really good video as usual. I visit a place where I do see Kingfishers on an almost daily basis, but I've never been able to get close enough to photograph them properly. Obviously I've been doing it all wrong! I didn't realise I could just set up a perch like you have! I'm going to give it a go! Cheers.
Hope it works.
Hey Mike! Fantastic good videos you make. I tried your tip to day, about putting up a new sitting branch, it took 20 minutes then the kingfisher came and sat on the branch. The kingfisher chose the newly installed branch. Thanks for the tip.
Fantastic!
Great stuff Mike, you make it look too easy lol. With regards to their attraction to a new perch - that explains why most anglers I speak to at our local pond say the kingy lands on their rod after a while, makes total sense. (Furnace pond in Horsmonden where I spoke to you when you were down for the Osprey in 2017).
Yes they are not shy birds.
What type of hide is that , looks absolutely brilliant .
I had a large batch made up in China and imported them. They sold out a long time back. Similar hides appear on Ebay from time to time.
Nice video, thank You for sharing Your experiences :)
It's my first year photographing birds. Getting a photo of a kingfisher was high in my "must have" list. After finding a nest in the spring I watched them about a month until baby-kingfishers came out from the nest and all of them flew away few days later.
My experience was quite opposite - they were very shy. I did not use photo blind but ghillie suit. Biggest minus about the suit - they can see your hands moving. A lot more success was with ghillie blanket where I could hide my hands.
Second thing - I was hoping that "they can't resist a new perch," but they never flew on perches I installed. Possibly because river bank had so many natural perches? Next spring I'm gonna try the hide.
Yes you have to find a spot with no over hanging perches
As usual an interesting one from you Mike. Here in Norway, the kingfisher is a rarer bird. I think a trip to the UK is necessary.
Thanks for the info
Great video Mike! I will try this trick soon. We have lots of kingfishers over here in the Netherlands. About the gh6: great all purpose cam, but I find the video a bit too sharpened, making it look like "video" rather than cinema if you know what I mean. I prefer my zcam, but that thing is heavy and lacks ibis and autofocus. There's always a catch!
Video quality is something I find hard to comment on due to lack of experience.
@@MikeLaneFRPS you did well, so no worries :-).
Superb Mike followed your advice last time using this method , it amazes me some days it was 30 second after getting in the hide and camera wasn’t even switched on. Some days I’ve waited 6 hours but straight to the new perch when it turned up👍👍
Glad it worked.
I literally had this the other morning turned round and headed to my hide and it was there already!! 😂
A great video Mike! Very informative and useful. Thank you for sharing! Question for you. Why do you say to not put up the perch the day before?
Hi Lucie, I don't think you watched the film. I stress in the film that a new perch is a magnet for a kingfisher as it can fish over a bit of water it could not cover before. Put the perch out the day before and it will land and you will not be there. If it does not catch a fish the perch is less attractive next day and the chance of it landing far less. Has to be new.
@@MikeLaneFRPS Thanks Mike. I did watch the video. I missed that bit of info i guess because I was watching without sound, reading subtitles. Thank you for taking the time to reply.
Great video again Mike. Interested that you say you cannot get that hide any more ?
I have seen them on Ebay. But not currently
Great video as usual Mike, I have to say that you make it look very easy but obviously your in depth knowledge of your subjects helps massively with that. Quick question if I may, did you refer to the metal support as a road spike? I did a quick search on eBay and couldn't find any, just came up with spikes like the stingers used by the police
I typed Road spike into Google and got this. premierbarriers.co.uk/steel-fencing-pins-road-pins-8mm.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAvK2bBhB8EiwAZUbP1JyulAuk_veysH-5IrjbjwqHQMbqFN0OUuz-3m92kIDl7zBb6s_MohoCPVUQAvD_BwE
On Ebay search for 314079637844
@@MikeLaneFRPS Thanks for that, I'll take a look
Mike, your knowledge of bird behaviour is very impressive indeed. The photographs and video were also equally impressive - a very enjoyable 10 minutes. Keep up the good work. Alun
Many thanks!
thoroughly enjoyed your video Mike. just started out . could you give me info on that hide . foldability is so neat . thanks !
I had a large batch made up in China, but they sold out a long time back. Similar ones appear on Ebay from time to time.
Managed to pick one up. Enjoying your channel. Excellent. Thanks Mike
You are a legend for beginners like us.. Just one question , can we expect them to visit again once they have gone.? Or I should just come on another day.
If they catch fish they will more likely return. In the film I say that the spot I chose had no fish, so less likely the bird will spend time there. If I chose the waters edge where there were fish it was a poor background and difficult to access.
What are the chances that I was gonna wake up early tomorrow to go try and photograph kingfishers 😍😍
Hope it works.
This species of Kingfisher you photographed, is it a blue eared kingfisher?
Thanks for the video.
Alcedo atthis. eurasian kingfisher.
Mike, can you please tell me what hide that is, make etc?
No brand. I had a large batch made up in China and imported them. Long since sold out, but is was not a great financial success and I have not repeated it. Similar ones show up on Ebay from time to time.
Sorry Mike forgot to ask in first comment what make of hide you are using?
No Make. I imported a large batch from China that they made for me. Long since sold out. You do see similar ones on Ebay from time to time.
I have a Kingfisher at my favorite river spot. He dives from branches 5 meters over the water or from 30cm high weeds. So I dont think the height of the perch matters.
They will dive from any height from 1 foot to 20 feet. If you want to attract one provide the height they like best.
That makes sense. I will try it next week.
You mention a road spike? Or did i hear incorrectly?
That's what I call them, but search Ebay for Steel fencing pins. I find them useful in a variety of ways.
@@MikeLaneFRPS Ah thanks.
Uhm… nope they are bloody difficult to photograph.. because they are not easy to locate (at least not in North Germany). I takes really ages to find a location. when they cannot hide anymore… yes. It is the first step. Most local birds are far easy to track down. Took me years to find a location….
As always Mike, thank you for another interesting video. If you have time, could you let me know what tripod, hide and camera equipment you are using there, especially the tripod, tripod head, camera and lens you prefer. Thank you.
I am using OM-1 camera with 150-400mm lens. No idea on the tripods, but one has a Miller Compass 12 head and the other a Manfrotto 501.
Sehr spannend! Ich werde es morgen sofort ausprobieren und bin gespannt, ob es funktioniert. Gerne nehme ich mir auch etwas mehr Zeit :) Vielen Dank für dass tolle Video zum Thema: Hier mein Instagram, falls es funktioniert: instagram.com/mybirdgallery/