Hide Photography

Longimanus

Longimanus

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Lee
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Im considering a day in a local hide which is set up for Kingfishers and wanted some advice on what to expect.

I can use my common sense, but what is the etiquette when in hides?

When is the best time for Kingfishers?

I did consider a day workshop in the same hide but it's almost double the price, I don't want to sound arrogant in any way, but is it really that difficult?
 
Longimanus said:
I don't want to sound arrogant in any way, but is it really that difficult?
Click to expand...
Its easy if you want to put the time in ,me I watch my Kingfishers all year round ,and visit the spots at least once a week and monitor the situation ,I get pleasure out of gaining knowledge on the birds etc,I then set up for shots and sit and wait sometimes I come back with nothing ,other days I get shots ,this applies to most of all the other subjects I photograph ,what you are paying for in a paid workshop hide is somebody else doing all the hard work ,you just pop along sit in the hide and shoot away...Kingfishers are more active in breeding season ,its just a case of finding the males territory
 
Longimanus said:
Im considering a day in a local hide which is set up for Kingfishers and wanted some advice on what to expect.

I can use my common sense, but what is the etiquette when in hides?
Click to expand...

Keep reasonably quiet ... there's nothing worse than being in a hide with a loud-mouth!
Some species are very easily disturbed so getting out of the hide to smoke or whatever can cause issues of ever getting a visit.

Longimanus said:
When is the best time for Kingfishers?

I did consider a day workshop in the same hide but it's almost double the price, I don't want to sound arrogant in any way, but is it really that difficult?
Click to expand...

Generally from around April onwards with the best time (I've had) being during May.
Location can dictate how successful you are, even with a prepared hide it can sometimes be hours before a bird visits, if at all, other times you may have them visiting so much that you wonder if you can get any different poses!
 
den said:
Its easy if you want to put the time in ,me I watch my Kingfishers all year round ,and visit the spots at least once a week and monitor the situation ,I get pleasure out of gaining knowledge on the birds etc,I then set up for shots and sit and wait sometimes I come back with nothing ,other days I get shots ,this applies to most of all the other subjects I photograph ,what you are paying for in a paid workshop hide is somebody else doing all the hard work ,you just pop along sit in the hide and shoot away...Kingfishers are more active in breeding season ,its just a case of finding the males territory
Click to expand...

Many thanks for this Dennis, I have been fascinated since a very early age with Kingfishers, I watch them all the time whilst fishing at my local lake, they are just a bit too far away from me to get a decent shot!

Last year I had 4 of them across the lake in the same tree, fantastic to watch and a reason why I want to try and get some shots
 
gramps said:
Keep reasonably quiet ... there's nothing worse than being in a hide with a loud-mouth!
Some species are very easily disturbed so getting out of the hide to smoke or whatever can cause issues of ever getting a visit.



Generally from around April onwards with the best time (I've had) being during May.
Location can dictate how successful you are, even with a prepared hide it can sometimes be hours before a bird visits, if at all, other times you may have them visiting so much that you wonder if you can get any different poses!
Click to expand...

Thanks @gramps for the info, sounds like common sense then, I spend hours fishing so it can't be much different to this then :-)
 
Every year around mid April I take my binoculars down to the local river ,I just spend time on the bank watching the Kingfisher activity to determine whether they birds have paired up or not ,if they have i just do my best to spot the top fishing spots for the birds ,then its away with the binoculars were i then set up a hide ,be it bag hide /portable of just a old wooden pallet with some camo netting over it ...as said it realy is all down to putting time in,if you don't have that time then a paid workshop could be the way to go
 
Longimanus said:
Last year I had 4 of them across the lake in the same tree, fantastic to watch and a reason why I want to try and get some shots
Click to expand...

They are obviously there, so get a little pop up hide for yourself & if poss get yourself nearer to them & place a `fishing` perch/branch very near................then wait!
 
I have thought about it, just not sure what my fellow anglers would think, it's a private syndicate!
 
If you have a good location where you have seen kingfishers about put some perches up of your own bearing in mind where the sun will be whilst your waiting so you get the birds showing at their best , My local spot I have put several perches up around the pond which I got stripped down to a pair of shorts and waded in to sight them, put a bit of effort in and you will get good results by yourself
 
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