We have been watching and photographing a pair of Sacred Kingfishers making a nest in a termite mound 8 metres up a gum tree in Oatley Park.
From courtship to the first flight of the four offspring has been about three months.
Cheers,
Antonia
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an excellent series of pics, it must have been great to see the whole process
I am curious as to how you got pics 2 &3
Peter
Hi Peter/pacman,
Thank you for your interest and compliments.
Yes, it was very exciting to see the entire cycle from courtship and nest construction,
all the way to watching the hatchlings take their first flights.
There is a nearby vantage point on which we would set up a long lens and wait (and wait)
I have put some more photos on as well as an out -of -focus one of the moment of first flight
of the fledgling shown in the other photos.
Cheers,
Antonia
Wow Antonia! Amazing series. I bet there would be a few ornithologists who'd like to have seen that first hand.
Wendy
Mandurah, WA
Peel-Yalgorup System Ramsar Site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlinoz/
Wonderful series of photos!
Thanks WendyK and sacrednavel, we feel blessed to have had the opportunity
to see and record such a wonderful event.
In a few days time, I will put on some photos of the parents and more outside shots.
Cheers,
Antonia
You have a great series of images there. I appreciate how difficult it was to get the exposures right, with the deep shadow and sunlight together. Terrific photography.
Keefsmit
stunning set of images and what a great opoutunity to witness it all, beautifull.
how many of the fledglings survived?
thanks
mike
Hi keefsmit and miccro,
Many thanks for your comments and praise. It is very appreciated.
We saw all four fledglings leave the nest...two on the 23rd and two on the 24th.
Each flew about 10 metres on the first flight and about 25 to 35 on subsequent flights.
For a couple of hours they mostly sat about as if stunned or overwhelmed by it all, but
constantly preening themselves and just looking around.
The parents, who we had rarely seen together for the past three months, both watched
intently from about 40 metres away, chasing off the occasional currawong or wattlebird.
Every 20 minutes or so, the fledglings would squawk and one of the parents would quickly
bring an insect or mudcrab to it. But the moment the food was in the young-one's mouth the
parent would instantly fly back to its watching position.
Over a few hours the short, brief flights would take the fledgling further and further away so that
after 3 or 4 hours, we could barely hear them in the distance.
I have put on a few more photos of the parents with some snacks and some feeding the fledglings.
There are quite a few more but the quality drops with distance.
Cheers and all the best for the New Year,
Antonia