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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Kingfishers (2 Viewers)

Seeing double again!!!

8-3-14 @ 7.30
I thought I'd have a run along the River Cole in Brum this morning.
I started off at Trittiford Pool and saw a couple heron.
Then ran into Brum, past Sarehole Mill.
Was very lucky to see one kingfisher fly from a perch and then another!!!!!!
They were then calling each other as they flew off and up the river.
I tried to find them again and just about made them out in the murkiness, sat on a perch together before of course they flew off again.
Their calls now just sounded like any other bird whistle.
I then saw one fly high and over a bridge and then left them to it.
I have now seen 4 couples in the past 2 months!!!
Happy birding to all!!B :)B :)
 
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05-04-2014 06.30 to 08.30
I decided I needed to cover more ground in my pursuit of the kingfisher so I took a run along the Cole Valley, Shirley and then the Rea Valley, Kings Norton, stretches I have seen KF before. I didn't see any KF but there was a lot of great bird song.
As I drove back I passed the Valley Parkway boating pond (BVT) and thought I'd pull up for a quick look as I've seen KF on the Bourne and have seen a BTO report of a KF sighting on the Valley Parkway pond itself. There were a few dog walkers/walkers going past the pond and I thought 'nah too busy for a KF'. What do I know!! Next minute there it was - a Kingfisher making a low flying pass over the pond!!!!!!!!! Seen from the comfort of my car!!!!!!!!!!! Cracking!!!!!!!!! (I did take a closer look but did not see it again, so I asked a dog walker if he'd seen it and he said he'd seen a couple fly over last Wednesday/Thursday)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/88816303@N08/
 
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12-04-2014 8.00
Decided I had best check out Kingfisher Country Park this year to check it still lives up to it's name. I was not sure if I would find any KF what with it being the breeding season. I first saw 2 Jays which was a good start, but after walking/running a couple miles along the River Cole I didn't see that elusive KF. It was only when I made my way back and said to myself 'not seen any heron either' that as if by magic a couple heron appeared. I thought I'd best try that trick again, so I said to myself 'not seen any kingfisher' and hey presto the next minute I found a kingfisher in a tree on the Meriden Park, Kinghurst brook lake, Chelmsley Wood. Bingo, it had stunning colours as it flew off across the lake. Magic!!
 
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Kingfisher Couple

27-04-2014 07:00 River Cole
I could hear in the distance the repeated call of the kingfisher, the shrill whistle 'chi-keeeee, chi-keeeee, chi-keeeee' and I knew it was a couple. When I reached their location, I saw them very close to each other, possibly on the same branch. They then both flew off in different directions. I could then hear them repeatedly calling each other. There was also blackbirds singing and calling which was was much louder, but I could still make out the kingfisher calls as they flew up and down the river. Then the kingfisher returned to what must be their favourite branch, unfortunately not together, but I've had a go at merging their photo's together anyway!! LOL!! ;)
 

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After my Sunday 18/05/2015, River Cole, Birmingham kingfisher sighting, I was rewarded with a four kingfisher fly pass, sighting in Essex this week! I might have seen four fledglings as first I saw two kingfisher looking a bit lost flying into a bush. Then there was a lot of kingfisher calls and commotion. I then saw four kingfishers flying across a lake, two went straight across and two around an island. I took this to be the two parents chasing off the young. Stunning!! (I know this was not the Midlands but thought it worth sharing/recording)
 
A great couple River Cole kingfisher sightings this week (and seven sightings during the week away in Essex). Still trying to find one/any on the Rea. I saw a couple on the Bourn earlier this year and then someone reported 2 on the Valley Parkway, I wondered if they'd moved to the Rea. I shall check it out over this weekend.
 
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28-06-2014 07:00
Plenty of bird song along the R. Cole and I could hear a few calls that sounded like a kingfisher but I was not 100% sure. The calls were not bright and clear enough. Anyway I took a look at openings along the river and timed it just right on the JMJ walkway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Morris_Jones_Walkway to find the kingfisher on a bank perch and then it flew past me head height a few feet away, making three calls which were not that clear or kingfisher like. (I still wonder if this was one of the pair I saw and if they nested)
 
I had a great KF weekend - one on the R.Cole and a new Juv. on the R.Rea.
My theory is - the female KF who I watched over the winter on the Woodbrooke/Bourne
https://www.flickr.com/photos/88816303@N08/12598716704/in/photostream/
And who I saw with a male KF and were then spotted flying to the Rea in April.
This could be the male from the Rea and I saw a lone one flying in the direction from the Bourne to the Rea and then would suddenly appear with the female KF on the Woodbrooke/Bourne;
https://www.flickr.com/photos/88816303@N08/8441968002/in/photostream/
Had junior on the R.Rea somewhere;
https://www.flickr.com/photos/88816303@N08/14584908534/
 
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S Hares is finding them via BTO, not seen one a long this section - maybe it will visit WGVCP
When: 12 Jul 2014
Where: Bourn Brook Walkway (SP0383)
Who: S Hares
What: Kingfisher (1)
 
River Cole Kingfisher pair!!

20-07-2014 05:30
There was a lot of bird song and other birds calling along the R. Cole and I could just hear a few calls that sounded like a kingfisher but was not sure. My instinct knew to check the sounds out and sure enough I could then hear the 'tee chi' call I am use to from a pair of kingfisher. So I waited on a tree hidden bend and was rewarded with two kingfisher flying around the bend along the river together. GREATTTTTTTT!! B :)
 
02-08-2014
I was looking for KF on the Rea in Stirchley and found families of feeding Chaffinch and LTTs in the trees/bushes along the River.
 
River Cole Kingfisher pair!!

03-08-14 Trittiford 07:00-07:45
Within 15 minutes of walking along the R.Cole from Trittiford I saw a kingfisher flying back up the river, head height a couple metres from me. Then found it on a small slab of concrete in the river, which was only an inch above the water which could have only been a couple inches deep. I then heard it fly off. I thought that would be it so headed home. I then got to the bridge over the Cole next to Trittiford pool and heard a lot of quick kingfisher calls, from another Kingfisher behind the pool. Then the kingfisher from down the Cole flew over the bridge and I could hear some commotion/repeated kingfisher calls behind Trittiford. A kingfisher then flew under the bridge, then it flew back again. Then there was real intense calling by 2 birds with the twin pitch call. Then I could sense they were calling and flying and I looked up at the right time to see them go over the bridge at lamp post height and back down the Cole. This seemed to be a territorial dispute!!
 

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