The last weeks of the unusually long rainy season I spent shooting kingfishers by a river just a short bicycle ride from my home. It is not a beautiful river but typical central Tokyo concrete-covered river with all kinds of garbage thrown in over the years. I wouldn’t usually photograph in a place like that but since the covid19 infections are rising again, I prefer not to take trains and risk getting infected.
There is one somewhat beautiful area by the river, a small cove with some lotus flowers growing in the water and a small green area where you can walk through. The cove fills with water when the water level is high and therefore on a rainy day, the gate to the cove is closed. I was hoping to capture kingfishers together with the lotuses.
On my first day to the river I searched for the kingfishers by the cove and found one male adult and two juveniles, who were already practicing on diving on their own. They were able to catch some tiny fish and shrimp but still relied on the adult bird for bigger catch.
After a long wait, the kingfishers coming and going, my efforts were rewarded and I was able to capture the adult male kingfisher with lotus, not with a flower but with the sea pod or “shower head” as they are often called.
On my second day, I was somewhat luckier and saw how the adult bird stopped to perch on a lotus bud for a moment. Despite of many visits to the river on the following days, I never saw a kingfisher getting on a blooming lotus flower. Now that the rainy season is over and there is no risk of flooding, the cove is kept open for people to enter and naturally the kingfishers have moved to other parts of the river. My chances of capturing these beautiful birds with lotuses are getting very slim.
The juveniles are getting better and better with diving. They are pretty active flying back and forth in the river. Sometimes they seem to be fighting with each other over territories, which is a skill that they will be needing when they are on their own.
長引いた梅雨の後半は近くの川でカワセミを追っていました。綺麗な川ではなく、東京で良くあるコンクリートで覆われたゴミも沢山入っている川です。普段でしたら、そんな川で撮影しないですが、新型コロナ感染者が再び増えている中、電車やバスに乗りたくないです。
川沿は一箇所だけ綺麗なところがあります。ハスの花が咲いている入江とちょっとした自然を楽しめる散歩道です。川が溢れる危険性がある雨の日などに入江への門が閉まっています。カワセミとハスのコラボを少し期待しました。
入江に着いたら、直ぐにオスの成鳥一羽と幼鳥二羽を発見しました。幼鳥はすでに自ら飛び込みの練習をして、小魚やエビをたまに取れたのですが、親からの餌にまだ大いに頼っていました。
カワセミが行ったり来たりの間、ずっと入江の周りに粘っていたら、運良く大人のカワセミをハスと一緒に撮れました。しかし花ではなく、タネがある『シャワーヘッド』の上に止まってくれました。
次の日も鳥運が良くて、オスのカワセミがハスの蕾に止まってくれるのを見て撮影できました。しかしその後、何回か川に通っても入江のところで粘っても再びハスとの共演はもうなかったです。梅雨が明け入江が人で賑やかになったから、カワセミは入江から消えてしまいました。『ハスカワ』を撮れる可能性もとてもわずかになりました。
幼鳥は次第に飛び込みが上手になってきています。あちこち活発に動き回っています。たまに縄張り争い見たいな行動も取っています。将来に向けて良い練習になるでしょう！
juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Adult male kingfisher・カワセミ、オス
juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Male common kingfisher・カワセミ、オス
Juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Male common kingfisher・カワセミ、オス
Juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Juvenile and adult common kingfisher・カワセミ、幼鳥、成長
Juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥
Juvenile common kingfisher・カワセミの幼鳥