A Kingfisher at Chard Reservoir
At the beginning of the week I was on my own. Ross was away on business and Grace was away with her father. So, on Monday evening I set off for Chard Reservoir – a place I had been meaning to go for a while – and made sure I arrived in time for golden hour. It was so beautiful that I wrote a poem about it earlier in the week and shared a couple of the photos I had taken.
Whilst I was there, I got chatting to a lady who was clearly a frequent visitor. She asked me if I had seen the Kingfisher. I told her that I hadn’t and would probably be unlikely to. She also told me that there was a bird hide on the other side of the reservoir and I noticed when I left that it was open from 8am until 3.30pm. So, the next morning, when I couldn’t get back to sleep after waking early, I grabbed my camera and set off in time for the hide to open.
I had the place to myself and was mainly focusing on the right hand side of the hide. After around 15 minutes, I decided to get up and swap to the other side and, as I did, I saw a glint of blue. I knew it. It was the Kingfisher.
I had originally thought that the T-shaped piece of wood was for measuring the water levels but then I realised as the Kingfisher sat there that it was there for him! He was there for around 2 or 3 minutes so I photographed on constant mode. I was lucky that I had my 300mm lens on the camera and that the shaking I experienced – due to the excitement! – didn’t show up in the end result. I managed to just about photograph him as he flew away. He was gone in an instant. I was so excited but there was no one to share it with so I texted Ross! And then came back and shared my experience on Facebook – worrying that, on the drive home, the SD card would somehow get corrupted! Thankfully not though.
I photographed on manual mode with autofocus using a 300mm lens. Aperture F5.6 and shutter speed of 1/2000 with auto white balance and auto ISO.
A Kingfisher at Chard Reservoir
On gosh – these are fabulous and lucky you. I have seen kingfishers but all too often just a flash of blue. Once, on holiday, we were on a boat and one settled a couple of meters away from us on the edge of the boat but there was no way we could get a photo.
Thanks for adding these to #AnimalTales and apologies for being so late popping by – that thing called life got in the way!
What fabulous pictures huni. Thanks for linking up to #PointShoot x
lovely shot of the Kingfisher flying off
Great capture. I love the colours of the kingfisher and the wood.
I am so envious that you got these shots! Never been lucky enough to get a Kingfisher…but I will! 😉
Beautiful, and what a lovely sight, well done 🙂 xox
As always your photos are totally on point. the colours in the Kingfisher are so beautiful and you capture their details perfectly.
Such a beautiful bird – great pictures!
These photos are absolutely amazing. The detail and colours are fantastic #pointshoot
What an amazing experience. Stunning photos. #pointshoot
What a treasure! Lovely shots that is so worth all the effort! #mysundayphoto
Fantastic photos Victoria – well done for capturing the kingfisher.
Stunning photos! What a wonderful experience. Sounds like it was meant to be 🙂
Fabulous photos! We saw a kingfisher once but it was just a blur of blue. I would have been excited too if I had captured these. I always worry that some how the setting on my camera has moved and they will be ruined (which happened once). #MySundayPhoto
Stunning pictures, I’m so glad you were able to catch the kingfisher. Such magical birds X #MySundayPhoto
Lucky you, I have always wanted to see a kingfisher I don’t blame you for shaking with excitement!
#mysundayphoto
That is such a beautiful bird….
Great timing on your part….
How wonderful, I have seen them near a local canal but they fly so quickly, just a dash of bright blue. Beautiful photo thankyou for sharing #MySundayPhoto
What a beauty!! And well done to you for capturing it so perfectly. #MySundayPhoto
Brilliant capture. So clear.
How wonderful, a bird I would love to see, perfect timing #MySundayPhoto
You are so lucky, not only to see such a beautiful creature but to also capture it so well. Fantastic photo’s, they say the early bird catches the worm, well in this case the early photographer catches the bird 😉
Wow. I’m not surprised you were shaking with excitement Vic. Gorgeous, gorgeous colours and perfect captures. xx
Fabulous photos! It must have been an amazing sight.
Stunning kingfisher. We’ve been looking out for one as we’ve never seen one in real life
Thank you for linking up
So beautiful and such an amazing experience. Kingfishers have to be my favourite bird x
Wow such wonderful pictures huni x
Wow and wow. Totally speechless this is an amazing shot of a beautiful bird. The colours are amazing. Fabulous capture, no wonder you were excited! #mysundayphoto
Back again from #PointShoot and still speechless! Brilliant!
such a colourful bird and of course captured so perfectly. He looks so thoughtful and distinguished .
Wow, such a treat to see a kingfisher in the wild Lovely photos.
Glad you managed to capture the kingfisher during his brief visit – what stunning photos 🙂
They are amazing pictures! The colours are unbelievably vivid. I don’t think i have ever seen a Kingfisher in real life, it looks like he is posing for you. I am brand new to DSLR so thank you for giving us the details. Have a lovely Sunday xx
Perfect captures of this magnificent bird! Well done!