hi down my local brook iv been photographing water voles and iv noticed a kingfish from time to time, whats the best way to find its feeding spot. i did get some advice from a friend who said if you place a stick in the strech of the brook where the bird has been seen
it cant resist but to use this new feeding pirch and marks it by spraying its dropings up the bank could this work. all the advice you can give would be great.
Chris,
Did something similar on one of my local drains. Found where they like to perch, & then plonked an old fence post near it in the water. Within 10 mins of doing this, i had one sat on top! I then left it for a week, observing the perch from a safe distance. I then put up a low net hide amongst the reeds & waited. Some superb close up shots were obtained & even had one perch on the end of my boot!
Regards Rob.
Yes your friend is right they will look for and land on more stable perches, I am sure if the bird uses this part of the brook and you have put your perch in an area where the water is clear, not running too fast and you can see a plentiful supply of small fish your patience should be rewarded!
I'd agree with placing your own perch in a good photographic position. Think about where the sun will be, what background you will have, what is the normal wind direction, where can you position yourself, etc etc
I'd also suggest staking a fine mesh net at the bottom of the new perch full of slow release fish food/groundbait. If you can attract the fish, they will attract the kf :)
An interesting discussion. I have recently discovered a relatively local KF nest (from which the young have fledged). Assuming the nest was active what is a safe distance away to avoid any disturbance when setting up a perch. I am abviously aware of schedule 1, but is 100m ok say, or is it more to do with line of sight than distance?
thanks lads for your advice i will go down to the brook tomorrow and iv got some good spots in mind where i know the water is deep and has a good head of fish.
Kingfishers tend to go after smalle fish such as minnows and these are usually found in the shallows. I've seen kingfishers fishing in water which is only a few`inches deep so I think minnow-rich shallow water would be a better bet than deep water.
Discussion
6 repliesit cant resist but to use this new feeding pirch and marks it by spraying its dropings up the bank could this work. all the advice you can give would be great.
chris
Did something similar on one of my local drains. Found where they like to perch, & then plonked an old fence post near it in the water. Within 10 mins of doing this, i had one sat on top! I then left it for a week, observing the perch from a safe distance. I then put up a low net hide amongst the reeds & waited. Some superb close up shots were obtained & even had one perch on the end of my boot!
Regards Rob.
Yes your friend is right they will look for and land on more stable perches, I am sure if the bird uses this part of the brook and you have put your perch in an area where the water is clear, not running too fast and you can see a plentiful supply of small fish your patience should be rewarded!
David
I'd also suggest staking a fine mesh net at the bottom of the new perch full of slow release fish food/groundbait. If you can attract the fish, they will attract the kf :)
Also what sort of depth of water do they fish in?
Thanks
Gary
Kingfishers tend to go after smalle fish such as minnows and these are usually found in the shallows. I've seen kingfishers fishing in water which is only a few`inches deep so I think minnow-rich shallow water would be a better bet than deep water.