What a Summer with Kingfishers Has Taught Me
Spending a summer photographing Kingfishers (Alcedo atthis) has taught me that Kingfisher photography and wildlife observation are about much more than capturing an image. The longer I watched these remarkable British birds, the more I began to recognise patterns in their behaviour.
Following Familiar Kingfisher Routes
One of the clearest patterns was their use of familiar flight routes to and from the nesting area. Rather than flying directly into the nest burrow, the Kingfishers usually landed on a favourite perch first, particularly when returning with a fish.
For a wildlife photographer, learning these routes and preferred perches makes their movements easier to anticipate and photograph.
Waiting Before Entering the Nest Burrow
I also noticed interesting Kingfisher feeding and nesting behaviour when both adults returned with fish. If they met at the same perch, there could be a brief disagreement before one moved to another nearby perch.
One bird would deliver its fish while the other waited. From my observations, they also seemed reluctant to approach the nest entrance while another Kingfisher was close to the main perch. Occasionally, a waiting bird would eventually eat its fish rather than take it to the nest.
A Kingfisher Call That Tells You They Are Coming
Sound became an important part of my Kingfisher photography. I frequently heard the distinctive Kingfisher call as a bird returned, sometimes carrying a fish.
Often, I heard the bird before I saw it. For bird photography and British wildlife observation, learning to recognise calls can be just as useful as knowing where to look.
What Happens After Leaving the Nest?
After visiting the nest, I often saw a Kingfisher return to a nearby perch. Sometimes it would dive into the water once or twice before flying away to fish again.
Whether these dives were for bathing, cleaning or another purpose was not always clear. This is an important part of wildlife observation — separating what you actually see from what you assume is happening.
Observation Changes Wildlife Photography
The biggest lesson from this summer has been simple:
The more time you spend watching wildlife, the less random its behaviour begins to appear.
Learning the Kingfishers' routes, calls and preferred perches helped me anticipate their movements rather than simply react to them.
These are my observations from a particular breeding site, and Kingfishers (Alcedo atthis) elsewhere may behave differently. That is part of what makes UK wildlife photography so fascinating. It encourages us to slow down, observe and learn about the natural behaviour of British wildlife.
Sometimes the most interesting thing you bring home isn't the photograph.
It is what you learned while waiting for it.
Explore the Gallery
Check the gallery for some of the Kingfisher images I’ve captured recently. These wildlife photographs show some of the behaviours described above, including returning with fish, waiting on familiar perches, diving, feeding and interacting around the nesting area.