Kingfisher Paradise

Having read about the Oasi di Cervara and about the Kingfishers living in that area, I was very curious to go and see myself, hoping to be able to take some good shots of these beautiful birds. It's not very close to home, it takes three and a half hours to drive there, so I decided to leave on Friday evening to be already on location on Saturday morning, ready to go to the hide.

It couldn't have been a better decision: The place is lovely, the structure very efficient and the couple of Kingfisher had been quite active during the two days I spent there.

For the occasion, I brought a Canon EOS 1D X because of the higher frame/sec rate vs my 5D MkIII (12 vs 6) so I could have better chances to catch the Kingfisher in flight. The light was not 100% ideal the whole time and I had to push the ISO of my camera quite a lot in order to have short enough a shutter speed to frame such bullet-fast birds. Trying to freeze the birds in action, called for not longer times than 1/3200 or 1/4000 sec and depth of field was very important as well, to get a higher probability of having the subject in focus. I couldn't keep it that fast when it was darker, and many times I got shots not perfectly frozen (so I am not posting that many in flight, here). The high ISO required also often caused loss of detail and thicker grain.

After a few times, I could tell the bird's behavior and know from which perch it would dive or where it would go after a missed catch, but sometimes it would surprise me diving from a tree or from a distant perch. It's incredible how fast and precise the Kingfisher is, how it can spot, target and catch a fish from such a distance and so fast, usually piercing it with its pointed beak. Another wonderful perfect creation of God: how wouldn't you be amazed?

I am quite happy with some of the shots I took, but I consider these more like a first test, rather than top captures, and I hope to be able to go back and take advantage of what I learned from this first experience, hopefully with full sunny weather. Many thanks to Erminio for his kindness and hospitality.

             EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/1000sec ISO 1000

             EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO 1000

             EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/2500sec ISO 1000

             EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/6.3 1/1600sec ISO 1000

             EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/4.5 1/4000sec ISO 1600

             EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/4.0 1/4000sec ISO 2000

             EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/2500sec ISO 1000

             EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/5000sec ISO 1000

             EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/1000sec ISO 1000

             EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/6.3 1/1250sec ISO 1000

Cute!

Before showing you other shots of the great egret, I would like to share this new shot of the common kingfisher I took a few weeks ago. It was a very cold day and part of the water was covered by a thin layer of ice. Thinking that the kingfisher could not fish there, I moved to the side hit by the sun, where the water surface was free. A perch just in front of the hide was the "dream spot" where I hoped the bird would stop during his daily hunt for fish. The first time I shot the kingfisher I realized I should have kept more appropriate settings to get a better definition and avoid any blurry effect because of the movement. That time, however, I was shooting handheld, with no support and there was not that much light. This time, instead, I was resting my telephoto on a bean-bag and the full sun was allowing me a good time/aperture/ISO combination. It was also the first time I was trying the EF400mm f/2.8L IS USM with the extender 1.4x III, quite a good telephoto power! So, as I was looking around for any interesting subject, every time I was not shooting I brought back my camera pre-focusing on the perch top to be ready... just in case. Then, suddenly, a blue flash arrived and stopped right where I hope it would. A bunch of seconds to shoot as many photos as I could and then the bird flew away. Wow, what a cute bird this is, especially in this puffy pose during a cold winter morning. The light was perfect and the colors and details of this male kingfisher came out very nice. I am very happy for this capture.

              EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x III@560mm f/6.3 1/640sec ISO 200