Apologies to those of you who may have already read this post on the RSPB Community site. It is due to popular demand that I post up a few 'old' adventures of mine, which got great responses when first posted....
(Kingfisher blues, Fuzzy Foxes and a great weekend!...Thanks Harry! was originally posted on 4th October 2011)
Hello All,
Wow, what an interesting weekend I have just had and although it didn't go to plan (as usual) it was very enjoyable! So in pictures and words here's a quick run down.....
My weekend was planned around trying to get some decent pictures of a Kingfisher that has eluded me so far this year. You might remember but I posted a little while ago that a friend of mine had given me a tip off of a great “Kingfisher spot” and after several weeks of trying and many long hours I drew a big fat 'HIGGY ZERO!'
From this disaster I followed up by failing on my quest with badgers and of course that darn buzzard (Harry) who I see all the time but just won't 'pose' for the camera!
Having located the above-mentioned badgers set, situated in a small wood around a large pond, I spent many hours there with absolutely no sign of a badger what so ever! I was however overwhelmed by the richness of the bird life within this wood so told my 'Kingfisher' friend about this little unknown gem. Last week he went for a visit that prompted an excited phone call from him where he relayed to me his fantastic morning trip to this wood and spending ages watching a Kingfisher!!!....He even described the exact spot where I could set the camera up on a tripod and get a "perfect picture" Apparently there was a small island of stones in the middle of the pond with an old branch sticking out which the Kingfisher was using as it's perch to hunt from, if I located this I couldn't fail!.....
Excited???....You bet and in true Higgy fashion I packed the car and come Saturday drove straight down there. Parking the truck up I couldn't get everything unpacked quickly enough! Over the gate I went and hiked across the field, only to get half way across and find this group of ‘thugs’ and another twenty or so of their mates running at me!...
Last time I was there the field was empty! As it is an extremely large field I was stranded, completely marooned with no where to go!......Following some quick thinking a bit of shouting and a lot of waving my tripod around like a mad Samurai swordsman they stopped their charge and decided to just stalk me the rest of the way instead!....Whilst this was happening my friend 'Harry' the buzzard flew over and I'm sure he was laughing at me again! He really must think he’s watching the comedy channel every time I’m around!!!
Finally I got down to the lake and settled myself in behind the old Oak tree and waited for the turquoise & orange beauty to turn up and pose nicely for all my lovely high tech and very expensive camera gear....and….waited....and….waited...2 hours.…and….waited... You guessed it....NOWT!!
Three hours into my mission no Kingfishers but I did have a stroke of luck as whilst crouched behind the big old Oak tree waiting a Tree Creeper landed on the trunk right in front of me and quite simply ‘posed’ for the camera! This pretty little bird was literally only two feet away from me and I could have reached out and touched it! Unfortunately 'higgy's luck' struck again and as I was using my 300mm lens I was too close and couldn't lock focus on it!!!.....had I been quicker to react I could have taken my mobile phone out of my pocket and probably got my best bird shot ever!!! LOL
Over four hours later all I had in the bag was the picture of a stick, a portrait of my new best friends and my 'end of the day picture'...As you can see from this picture It really was getting late at this point and very dark also!....
So with only the three shots in the bag I packed up my gear and trekked back to the car to head home and get some sleep! My thought process at this point was very much about somehow sweet talking Mrs Higgy into giving me a pass for the following day (Sunday) to continue my newest pursuit of a decent Kingfisher picture. After all this was a dead cert….wasn’t it!?…
I knew Sunday would be better and the excitement got the better of me and I was awake just after 5am! Well not one to waste an opportunity and more importantly another day pass I was out of bed and heading for the wood by 5:20am! When I arrived it was still dark and I opted to follow the hedge line along in the next field, I figured that this way I would avoid waking up & spooking my new best 'bullock' friends and frightening away anything else which might be out and about at this ridiculous hour!
Thinking about my past photography failures I set the camera with my 'low light' settings and preceded across the field. I didn't get any more than 100 yards when a fox came out of the hedge and casually 'strolled' across the field right in front of me! He was obviously on his way home, belly full from a nights hunting.....panic stations...no time for tripod...clang...right down on your belly camera at the ready....snap, snap, snap...three quick rapid shots taken like a professionally trained SAS sniper.....a quick look at what I’ve got in the LCD display….
DRAT!!!......FUZZY FOX!.............
I think my 'low light' photography needs some work!!???....
Any way forget about yet another failure, the sun is now rising so for a change a 'start of the day' shot this time...
7am, and I can already tell that it's going to be a very hot and sunny day today. I'm now settled in behind my favourite Oak tree camera on tripod focused on the perch, there is no way I can fail in my mission this time is there??........
10:30am....movement across the pond....here we go camera ready...snap...."oh drat, MOOR HEN!.....
Midday and still nothing, I'm not sure who is border now, me or that darn stick that I've been staring at for the last five hours!! The Great Tits and Blue Tits have been warning of my presence since arriving and to top it all 'Harry' has flown over several times but I've missed getting a picture as the camera has been on the tripod set up or as I get it ready he flies back over into the tree canopy!!!....."Damn Buzzard!!"
I'm at the stage of about 12hours into this farcical 'Kingfisher' hunt now and I've just about had enough of it, my backs in agony, my eyes hurt and to just about sum it all up I've got sunburnt on my leg but it's just a lovely even 2" band around my knees where my wellies and shorts didn't quite meet!!!....how sexy!! LOL
"That's it I've had enough can't take it any more"....teddies firmly out of the pram!!.....grab the camera and I'm off for a walk to stretch my back....
Still no Kingfisher pictures but, the end to a great weekend......THANKS HARRY!!!
Original thread complete with replies and comments can be viewed here:-
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/f/13609/p/56413/380711.aspx#380711
Higgy
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