I was in the Allen hide, which overlooks a brackish scrape with islands where black-headed gulls and avocets are nesting. The blue plastic post is part of the electric fence to prevent the avocets from being disturbed.
I used my 500mm Nikkor with a 1.4 converter (TC1.4), to give 700mm - which is not too long for wild birds
I have seen kingfishers in the area several times in the past year and I believe they have bred recently, but they are very frustrating to photograph. This male was perched fairly close to the hide, then he suddenly dived for a fish, missed it and came up to the post directly in front of me. He was also directly down sun. I pressed the focus button and it felt like quarter of an hour before it came into focus . . . .
