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In search of Kingfishers: the photo shoot

Little by little, the objective of my walks in nature is changing. As I have already observed almost 200 different bird species, it is time to start taking better pictures of them. Not that the photos I have been taking recently are that bad, but owning a decent camera and good lens, camouflage clothing and knowing where to find most species, I feel ready to take a next step.


One of the most beautiful birds we can find in the province of Cádiz in the South of Spain is without any doubt the Kingfisher. I have occasionally seen this bird around ponds and lakes, but it is not that common or easy to observe. I have photographed it, one time even with a little fish in its beak, but now I am not very satisfied with the quality of those images. According to some videos I have watched on YouTube, a good way to attract these wonderful birds is to install a new perch close to the bank of a river or stream. They should relatively soon come and stop during their patrol of the area to test it out and offer a good opportunity to photograph them. The advantage is that you can choose the type of perch, ideally a beautiful one with some moss on it, and that you control what is in the background, preferably a non-distracting one.


In the province of Cádiz, the Kingfisher's preferred habitat can be found along the river Guadalete, which rises in the Sierra de Grazalema National Park and runs for 172 kilometres into the bay of Cádiz at El Puerto de Santa Maria. Unfortunately, in most places, the river is inaccessible. I started looking for good locations using Google Earth and found a few interesting places. The disadvantage of this tool is that the aerial images might be out of date, and they often don't show if a place can be reached on foot or not. Many parts are also on private land. Some location may seem ideal seen from above, but when you arrive, some fence might ruin your plans.


I first went scouting for a good location on November 18th. It must have been the first time in a very long period that I hadn't taken my camera with me. A pure scouting mission! Almost as soon as I started my walk along the river, I saw a first Kingfisher flying low over the water. I had the feeling that finding them was going to be a piece of cake, but now I realise how lucky I was. I continued my walk along the river bank in search of a possible good location to install a perch. After the rain of the previous day, the area had become quite slippery and I got very close to sliding into the water.


No suitable place at my first stop, so I drove about two kilometres further up the river to another place that had seemed interesting on Google Earth. A Grey Heron sitting on an old branch just over the water confirmed that this was a quiet place indeed. I sat down on the grass for an hour or so to observe the activity in this area. Not too many birds, to be honest, but as I saw little fish jumping out of the water pretty frequently, and because of some pieces of beautiful wood hanging low over the water, I knew this might be an interesting location. Just before I was ready to leave, I saw a Kingfisher landing on the branch where the Heron had been standing on before. I regretted not having brought my camera, because I would have been able to take a more than decent shot of the bird. It soon jumped into the reed and flew off low over the water. At least I knew that this would be a great spot to visit again.




Visit that spot again is exactly what I did the very next day, November 19th. This time I had brought my gear: tripod, camera and ghillie suit. I installed a beautiful branch near the river bank, at about twenty metres from where I was seated. I even had to zoom out a little bit to have that spot fit in completely on camera, but I could use the extra range for other sticks a bit further down the river. I know I was pretty invisible to the birds, because many Chiffchaffs and even a pair of Buzzards came very close, without noticing me. A pair of Muscovy Ducks came as close as five metres off the river bank where I was, wearing my suit.



Pair of Buzzards
Pair of Buzzards

Unfortunately, no sign of the Kingfisher. I took a few test shots of the perches and knew that if a bird landed of one of them, I would surely have the shot I was after. Just as I had taken off the Ghillie suit, half an hour before sunset, a Kingfisher flew by. It didn't land, maybe because it had seen me. It had become too dark to take decent photos anyway, but I must say that I felt a little disappointed after waiting for four hours.


This perch would have made for the perfect shot!

I had heard hunters firing really close, so I realised this might not be the ideal place to go back to. A pity really.


On December 2, I decided to continue my search. I visited two more places near the Guadalete river which I had considered as interesting after investigating on Google Earth. As soon as I arrived at the first spot, I saw a spectacular Black-winged Kite sitting on a wooden post.



Black-winged Kite on a post
Black-winged Kite

The bird flew back and forth between some treetops while it was observing the ground. Unfortunately I couldn't get any closer because the trees were on private land.



Black-winged Kite jumping off a tree

After watching the bird for more than twenty minutes, I continued my walk along the river hoping to find a place to get close to the water. Unfortunately this was not possible due to the very dense vegetation.



Blackcap sitting in a tree
Blackcap

Dense vegetation was the same problem I had at my next stop, also near the Guadalete river. Here I observed lots of Spanish Sparrows and Common Waxbills. Just as I was about to leave, I saw a blue flash flying quickly over the water. Yes! And as I was looking at an opening in the reedbeds near the river, the same Kingfisher came to perch on a reed stem. I was so surprised that I had no time to point the camera and focus. The bird flew off after a few seconds!



A pair of Common Waxbills
Some invasive beauty: a pair of Common Waxbills

On December 29th I ran into another female Kingfisher while I was doing my routine visit to the Costa Ballena area. Unfortunately, the bird was too far away to take decent photos and as soon as I went closer, it flew off.



Female Kingfisher on a branch
This is exactly the image I had in mind, but the bird was a bit too far away

On December 30th I visited two places in Chiclana de la Frontera. Although the first spot looked promising when I arrived, there was no sign of a Kingfisher, even after a more than two-hour wait.



The perch I set up stayed empty during my entire visit

The second spot didn't seem to be as accessible as the first one. I didn't feel like staying for long, but decided to go and have a quick look along the river bank. I thought I was going to waste my time, but I had sat down for barely three minutes when a female Kingfisher joined me and perched on a branch on the opposite side of the stream. Unfortunately, some branches got in the way and prevented me from taking a brilliant shot. The bird dived into the water, caught something and flew off. The encounter lasted for only ten seconds, but this was the closest I had come to a Kingfisher so far.



Female Kingfisher
Another female Kingfisher

On January 14th 2023, during a short walk around Costa Ballena between Rota and Chipiona, while I was really looking for the rare Red-knobbed Coot, I immediately spotted several Kingfishers.



Female Kingfisher

After lying down for half an hour flat on my belly, waiting in vain for the Kingfishers to pose in front of my lens at the edge of one of the artificial lakes, I continued my walk along one of the canals. Once again, I spotted them and was able to take some pictures.



Female Kingfisher with a little fish


Male Kingfisher


Male Kingfisher flying fast


Kingfisher sitting on a fence

I had made several attempts to sneak up to them without being seen, but that was not a successful tactic. In the end, I saw a bird landing on a rock and I decided to wait for its return. This allowed me to take the shot I had been after for several months, at last: a nice colourful photo with a blurred background!




Female Kingfisher


Female Kingfisher

I am very satisfied with the final result, but might go back one afternoon to the same spot to get an even sharper picture.

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