How do you increase your chances of seeing Kingfishers on the Water of Leith?
I spotted my first kingfisher when I was about 6-7, on the River Braan, near Amulree, in Perthshire. We had a caravan, on a farm up there, for many years and during the holidays, I would be in the River Braan for about 80 days a year, until I was about 17. I watched the kingfishers, whilst I built dams, caught minnows, swam, etc & it would be fair to say that I learnt a huge amount about them, just through observation, as a kid. Decades would pass before I took my first ever wildlife photograph. That day came 3 years ago, on 21 Dec 2020, when my first wildlife photo was of a wee kingfisher, on the Water of Leith.
After almost 3 years of researching kingfishers on the Water of Leith, I have been able to apply the majority of this research, very successfully, on many rivers, throughout the whole of Scotland.
Here are some of the key tips that I use for spotting kingfishers:
- One of the key points about spotting kingfishers on the Water of Leith is that you have to be on a section of the walkway that is right down at water level. There are many sections, where the walkway parts from the water & rises 30-40 feet above water level. It is almost impossible to spot kingfishers from this height, bearing in mind kingfishers fly about 1-2 feet above the water & perch on branches 3-12 feet over the water. The section from Balerno down to Bog’s Mill bridge, between Colinton & Craiglockhart, has many sections where the walkway is separated from the water. So I tend to stick to the section from Bog’s Mill Bridge right down to Leith, where the walkway is fairly close to the water almost all the way. The exceptions are the stretch from Dean Village to St.Bernard’s Well, just before Stockbridge and a handful of sections beyond St Mark’s Park at Warriston. The walkway is from 12.75 miles from Balerno to Leith but if you only do the section from Bog’s Mill bridge to Leith, it reduces to about 7.5 miles.
– - Kingfishers can’t swim, so they hunt for fish, over still or slow moving water. As a rough estimate, you may find 35% of the river is still or slow moving, which would reduce your target search from 12.75 miles to about 4.5 miles. Or, if you’re just doing the Bog’s Mill Bridge to Leith section, then this means your target search area would only be 2.5 miles, of the 7.5 mile stretch.
– - When I mention ‘still or slow moving water’, this refers to a normal flow of the river. Directly after heavy rainfall, the river can rise rapidly and start to flow much faster than normal. When the water is like this, the kingfishers tend to head to other feeding areas, such as the canal, larger ponds, garden ponds & down to the coast. A good indicator is to keep an eye on the SEPA water levels for the Water of Leith. I find a good gauge is that if the water level reading is above 0.6 metres at the Murrayfield station then the water will be fairly fast, and some kingfishers, dippers & herons will move to other feeding grounds. Below this measurement, you will find the kingfishers will return to the water. Here is a link to SEPA’s Water of Leith water levels at Murrayfield: SEPA Water of Leith (Murrayfield)
– - Kingfishers perch on low hanging branches anything from 3-12 ft above still/slow moving water, so keep your eyes trained, at these heights, as you walk along the river bank.
– - Fish don’t like bright, direct sunlight for too long, so they tend to move into the shade. As a result kingfishers will sit on perches, above these shaded areas of water.
– - Kingfishers make a high pitched ‘beep’ call every 40+ yards as they dart along the water. You can hear a kingfisher coming to you and as you watch it go by, if the beep stops, the chances are it’s stopped on a favourite perch close by. If you aren’t familiar with the kingfisher call, a bird app, to identify bird calls/songs, is so useful – I can highly recommend the Merlin BIRD ID app, which is free – CLICK HERE for Merlin Bird App website.
– - Try & identify long, straight stretches of water – this way you can hear & see the kingfisher coming towards you. If you are tucked away then, you may well find that it stops for a feed near you, if the water is still or slow moving. Key point here is to try and stay out of sight.
– - Over the winter months (when there are no leaves), take note of all the favourite kingfisher perches; it stands to reason that they will still head to those perches in the summer because they are in good feeding areas, above still or slow moving water. You can then position yourself in a secluded spot & watch them diving for fish, from a distance, all year round.
– - Kingfishers are out hunting for fish during daylight hours and we are fortunate to have them on the Water of Leith all year round. Winter time is one of the best times to spot them, simply because there is less foliage on the trees.
– - Kingfishers can have 2-3 broods a year & can have 3-6 chicks, in each brood. Each chick needs about 15 small fish per day, so the adults need to hunt for around 75-90 fish a day just to feed the chicks before accounting for what they need. What this means is that you will have a better chance of spotting kingfishers diving for fish along any waterway during breeding season. Furthermore, 2-3 chicks will go hunting with an adult, so it’s not unusual to see a family of 3-4 kingfishers all at the same time on the river, over the breeding season. The best time of year to see this happening is May to July
– - Once the youngsters fledge, the adults will show them how to fish but only for several days before leaving them to fend for themselves. So you may see unusual behaviour, in terms of flight patterns, lots of high pitched peeping calls & young kingfishers being chased out of territories.
– - In terms of ID’ing kingfishers, the male & females can be identified by their bill. The male has a black bill & the female has black in the upper bill but has orange/reddish colouring on the lower bill. The juvenile kingfishers have darker legs and feet and have a white tip at the very end of their bill.
– - Finally, if you see a kingfisher on a perch, above the water, make sure you have a good look at the water below. Kingfishers are known to follow otters around & pick off the smaller fish that the otters have disturbed, as they turn over the stones in the water – so keep an eye out for these TWO for ONE offers!
These pointers are the tools that I use every day, when photographing kingfishers. Good Luck & I hope these tips help you!
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