With apologies to Kevin Costner and the creators of the movie, Field of Dreams, I have modified the phrase “Build it and they will come.” to “Place it and they will come” and by “it” I’m referring to a convenient perch for a bird.
In this case, I had often seen and heard Belted Kingfishers at a nearby marsh. But they were usually perched far out in the water (Where there were perches!). Not great for photos. Plus, Kingfishers are one of the most spooky of all birds…Meaning they fly at the first sight of a human. So I found a spot on the edge of the marsh where I could get a clear view of the water. I found a good looking perch in my woods at home, hauled it to the spot and stuck it in the mud. I set up my pop-up blind about 20 yards away and waited….But I didn’t have to wait very long as a Belted Kingfisher found the perch within 15 minutes!
SHOOTING WITH SPARKY: PLACE IT AND THEY WILL COME. Join Sparky in the field as he shoots Belted Kingfishers.
Note the series of photos where the Kingfisher misses the perch and makes an amazing recovery!
I froze the second she landed ….I did not want to spook her…so I waited until she was relaxed and fishing. Then I started shooting. My leg fell asleep and my neck got stiff from trying to remain motionless in the blind.
I knew it was a female because of her orange breast band…Females are actually more colorful than the males…Rare in the bird world!
[All shot with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm f5.6. Aperture-priority f5.6 and ISO 320 so shutter speed would be 1/1600 or 1/2000 and I could freeze any action]
[Wide angle video shot with Canon 7D and Sigma 10-20mm lens]
October 5, 2013
Sparky Stensaas
thesparkygroup@gmail.com
6 responses to “Place it, and they will come. Belted Kingfisher”
Lynelle
October 5th, 2013 at 18:44
Good job Sparks! These are my favorite images. Did you have to adjust the direction of the horizontal perch or did you just know how to do it right the first time sticking it in the mud?
Sparky Stensaas
October 6th, 2013 at 09:28
Hi Lynelle, Thanks. I just saw this stick in my woods, literally as I was getting in the van. I threw it in the back and headed out. The horizontal stub was a bonus. You rarely find perfect perches like this. It took two attempts to get the right placement of the perch. You’ll notice in the video that the water is already murky from my previous attempt!
Mike Powell
October 5th, 2013 at 18:57
Great idea that worked to perfection. I know from personal experience how spooky these birds can be and the only shots that I have managed to get have been from pretty far away. Your shots are spectacular and I enjoyed the video showing how they were made.
Sparky Stensaas
October 6th, 2013 at 09:26
Hi Mike,
Yes, they are some of the hardest birds to approach for a photograph! It did work amazingly well this time…But I went out a week later and NO Kingfishers showed up, though I could hear one in the distance. Such is wildlife photography…Low percentage shooting!
Dennis Lane
October 9th, 2013 at 17:55
Hi Photo Guy – Excellent shots,I use a canon 60D with the same 400 5.6. I’ll have to try your settings. I’ve been using manual mode set at 1000 to 1600 speed & f/5.6 also I set my ISO @ auto. It works well most of the time. I’m also curious on what blind your using.
Once again your photos & video are just EXCELLENT.
Dennis
Sparky Stensaas
October 10th, 2013 at 11:19
Hi Dennis, Thanks! The blind is the small Lightning Set Blind from Cabelas…Unfortunately the do not make it anymore…Not sure why as it was the easiest blind in the world to set up! I also had the 6-sided Lightning Set but it collapsed and broke the poles because I left it up last April in our backyard (N Minnesota)…and we had 48 inches of wet heavy snow in April! I just shot hawks up at Hawk Ridge, and there I used Shutter Priority at 1/2000 of a second and auto ISO. In that case, the aperture didn’t matter because the background was blue sky and even 5.6 was enough to get the entire hawk sharp. Take care,
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Top Ten Action Shots 2013 | The PhotoNaturalist January 15th, 2014 at 05:47
[…] use it…and within 10 minutes or so, one did! It even caught a fish from the perch. See the full story here. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/2000 second, ISO 320, tripod from […]
When you can’t have what you want… | Back Yard Biology April 9th, 2014 at 10:15
[…] some better portraits. In the meantime, have a look at Sparky Stensaas’ clever method for capturing kingfishers close-up. At the end of the video, he has some good suggestions for setting up the camera for wildlife […]