Why is it so hard to take a picture of a kingfisher?

During many years of travelling on a narrowboat, I must have tried to photograph a kingfisher a hundred times. We see them on the side of the canal quite frequently. A flash of blue against the brown or green. But for some reason they are really hard to photograph. They seem to know what they are doing because quite often they will sit quietly on a branch until I reach in my pocket for my phone. As soon as I look at the screen they are gone, either disappearing completely, or teasing me by flying ahead of the boat to find another perch.

So this week I was delighted to find a bird that remained still long enough for me to get a series of pictures.

I know they aren’t great – too blurry. We meet a number of bird watchers along the canals. They tell me that I am doing it wrong. I should sit quietly with a huge camera on a tripod, and wait for the bird to come to me. A great kingfisher photo can take days or weeks of waiting. I am just too impatient for that.

I did find a better way to get a kingfisher photo a couple of years ago. I met someone on a towpath that had just taken a picture and she kindly shared with me.

Now that is a kingfisher!