King Colin
It's not often that I feel compelled to post images taken by others in my Personal Diary. In fact I can only recall posting images taken by my brother, Mark, or his son, Tomas. However, I suspect that many of you will enjoy these, and they illustrate perfectly the potential rewards of dedication.
Butterfly buddy and occasional UKBer Colin Knight has been attempting to take some good images of a Kingfisher for some time now. In 2014 he spent more than 150 hours in the hides at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Centre in Arundel, hoping .... and hoping. There were some near misses. I remember commiserating with him when he posted a near-perfect image on his 'Postcards from Sussex' blogsite, but the Kingfisher had turned its head away just as he hit the button! Then there was the time when one landed on the desired post in front of the Sand Martin Hide, only for another occupant to thrust his pointed finger through the slat window and loudly exclaim "there he is!". Of course this poor hide etiquette can be very risky, as the hinged shutter might suddenly fall and break your arm.
I was delighted when he finally nailed the shot he was after (see top image), following a couple of 'almosts'. As is often the case with wildlife photography, once you have succeeded in a quest, further successes follow with relative ease. During a New Year break in Sheffield he came across a very obliging Kingfisher in Endcliffe Park. It was so obliging that it provided further close-up views during a couple of subsequent visits (lower three images).
I'm sure you'll agree, these are superb images of a Kingfisher, and just deserts for those many fruitless hours. Congratulations, Colin!
Huh.
