After 4 years and 10,000 miles, I’ve finally snapped the perfect kingfisher
EVERY other month, Gary Jones made a 400-mile round trip from his home to Scotland with one aim in mind – to take the perfect picture of a kingfisher.
Four years, 10,000 miles and nearly 50,000 photographs later, he has done it.
Captured at the precise moment that its beak touches the water, the bird is seen diving into a lake to catch a fish.
With its wings spread out, the female’s beak hadn’t even caused a ripple in the water before Mr Jones, 50, managed to take the shot from inside a hide in Dumfries and Galloway.
He said: ‘This is the kingfisher picture that all photographers dream about but they’re so quick it’s almost impossible.’
The shopping centre manager from Wirral, Merseyside, often travels to Scotland with his partner Sharon Whitley, a wildlife artist. He added: ‘I take about 2,000 pictures on each visit.
‘Every time you think that you’ve got it, you’ll be a nanosecond too early or late. The beak will fall short of the water or it’ll be too late and there’ll be a splash already.
‘Kingfishers are so fast it’s tricky to get them, but when they’re transfixed on the fish in the water it’s something else. It was like a bullet diving into the water so the timing was crucial.
‘I was camped out in the hide for six hours the morning I got this shot but it’s worth it when you pull off something special. It makes the long drive home a lot more bearable.’