Kingfisher Phototrap?

[J A Y M O R R]

Have you guys seen this yet?
http://www.moldychum.com/home-old/2010/3/12/the-coolest-pic-of-a-kingfisher-youll-see-all-day.html

Phototrap?

Very cool.

JayMorr

[kurt budliger]

I would think, unless the photographer found a spot where this guy was feeding and set up shop.

[John Bennett]

Not neccessarily a phototrap, almost certainly baited

[allen schaugaard]

That is a sweet shot! That is a cool looking bird, am I a bad person for wanting a kingfisher skin for when I tie fancy pants Steelhead and Atlantic Salmon flies?

[Stu Hastie]

Great images, but I have to say, I’m a sceptic. It looks shopped to me. The bird doesn’t look wet enough on exit, the flash line on the breast doesn’t stack up with the shadow on the snow. There should be water shedding off the wing tips. Three fish? Just my opinion.

[Morsie]

I agree Stu. The angle of entry by my reckoning would have the bird crashing into the ice on the side of the hole. Also do you get a bunch of baitfish on the surface in a hole in the ice like that?

Morsie

[John Bennett]

You do if its baited.

One method of baiting Kingfishers is to put a small aquarium in the water so it sits just under the surface and bait it with minnows. In this case it could be as simple as having a pail under the ice, drop your minnows in, then sit in your blind and wait.

I can almost gaurantee you the hole wasnt randomly cut in the ice of some pond/stream “hoping” all the elements would come together

[Morsie]

So what happens to the kingfisher if at the time it

[John Bennett]

So what happens to the kingfisher if at the time it  dives the minnow is right against the glass?

Scratch one kingfisher…?

I would have to think that’s a possibility, I wouldnt know as Ive never done it. Simply relating how people have baited them.

Some digging turned this up. The images are part of a larger group.
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/02/article-1133589-034401AF000005DC-422_634x901.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1133589/Dinner-It-8217-s-fast-food-deep-freeze.html&usg=__Pqwc1Y9abx8M1THC8oEpr-jRq20=&h=901&w=634&sz=144&hl=en&start=356&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Itml6ZZzmv-KvM:&tbnh=146&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dking%2Bfisher%26start%3D342%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1

[J A Y M O R R]

JB,

Thanks for digging this up. Very cool indeed.

JayMorr

[John Bennett]

No problem. I was looking because I’ve seen images before by another photographer but capturing the KF underwater. Truly stunning those were.

This shooter to seems to have borrowed a page from his book and rigged an underwater set up as well, which I only discovered once looking. Can’t tell you how much I wished this species of KF was indigenous to NA. So much prettier than our Belted. No idea if these KFs are as intolerant of humans as our Belted but alot of people I know who have spent countless hours trying to get images of them diving refer to the Belted as the devil bird.

[brian primeau]

FYI, I used to ice fish regularly and on three seperate occasions have had trout rise in nearby ice holes where fishermen had left their dead and dying minnows.  We thought we were crazy the first time but one day it happened three times as we watched a big splash in an otherwise deserted hole.
The minnows circle inside the hole and some never figure it out.  I think that cruising fish figure the whole thing out after a time and look for the holes in the ice.
The seagulls have it figured out as well.
I know guys at Lake Simcoe who have had mink swim from shore into their ice huts!
Not sure if the shot is setup or not but….there is plenty of bait laying in and around ice holes.

[kendal larson]

I’m with Brain – used to regularly ice fish in Northern Minnesota, and regularly saw all kinds of crazy things happen in holes in the ice.

When the lakes would become oxygen starved due to very thick ice combined with heavy snow (too dark to hold decent levels of O2 I guess), it wasn’t uncommon for minnows to show up in HUGE numbers in a hole in the ice, gulping air like crazy. In turn, you’d also see predators show up.

[John Bennett]

Just so you know what Im alking about 🙂

The photogs name is Angel Pulido lest there be any confusion about credit

scroll down 3 images
http://pixdaus.com/?sort=userbest&name=fauna

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/7826344-lg.jpg

http://pixdaus.com/single.php?id=85132

You can draw your own conclusions. In the end none of it really matters they (and the images above) are fantastic photography.

/edited for links

[Morsie]

Thanks for that information Brian, we don’t get a lot of ice fishing in Australia…… I guess on that basis it would be pretty easy to load up a hole in the ice with some live minnows somewhere near a tree and wait.

Morsie

[brian primeau]

Thanks John, His photos are amazing.
Morsie, I would be more than happy to personally deliver some Canadian Ice for your beer.  Just say when and where.

[Author]

Posts