Day 9#20 Back and forth from country to country we travel…From Egypt to England and the small village of Otterbourne to be precise. For several months I had struggled to capture a really crisp image of a kingfisher in decent light. Yes I had lots of photos of them, some of them I was even very pleased with such as the one hovering over the River Stour. That photo received so many positive comments and, indeed, several people ordered it as a print so they could donate to the Emily Collins School. But that was photographed at 5 o’clock on an October evening, not an ideal time of day, it was very cold, damp, grey and cloudy and the light was fading anyway. I yearned for the opportunity to photograph one in sunlight. Strangely within a few days I was offered the chance to join a friend in a Kingfisher hide in Otterbourne in December 2018 and despite it being winter I jumped at the chance! As I drove East at 6am I feared the weather would be against me again and later that morning as we shivered in our hide we were both pretty despondent. However, by lunchtime the wintery sun began to rise above the trees, immediately our hope was restored and we went on to enjoy a beautifully sunny, if cold afternoon. I have lots of photographs from that day including some great ‘in flight’ images but this remains one of my favourites. It is not dramatic but it was my first that actually did justice to the beautiful colouring of one of the worlds favourite birds. Everyone loves Kingfishers, they are tiny but they are fast, flighty, feisty, tenacious, determined, patient and absolutely beautiful…
All 20 images are in stock and available in assorted packs of 10 greeting cards. All proceeds go directly towards building the Emily Collins School in Kisoro, Uganda.
