Kingfisher / Wells

Bishop’s Kingfisher

by Jeff Bevan · 21st January 2024

Bishops Palace – Wells, Somerset, UK. ID IMG_7894

Bishop’s Palace

The kingfisher that lives in the moat at the Bishop’s Palace may be the most famous kingfisher in Somerset. This is a beautiful location and is worth a visit even without this bird.

Head to the south side of the moat where you will usually find a group of photographers walking up and down the wide footpath.

I joined in for a couple of hours and had a huge amount of fun.

Kingfisher – Bishops Palace, Wells, Somerset, UK. ID IMG_3748

You will need a telephoto. I have a Canon R10 with a 100-400 f8 lens. This is a relatively cheap setup. You will need something similar to get close-ups across the moat, or a camera with a built in superzoom. As always, there will be photographers doing the same thing but with kit costing 10 to 20 times the price.

The kingfisher coughing up pellets of indigestible fish bones.

Kingfisher – Bishops Palace, Wells, Somerset, UK. ID IMG_3434

The bird had it favourite perches. It spent a lot of time deep inside this ivy bush.

Kingfisher – Bishops Palace, Wells, Somerset, UK. ID IMG_3304

Flight Pictures

I was amazed at the number of opportunities there were to photograph the kingfisher. So I set myself the challenge of getting a picture of it in flight.

First attempt, and nearly got the bird in the picture.

Kingfisher – Bishops Palace, Wells, Somerset, UK. ID IMG_3248

Second attempt was better but the bird is too dark.

Kingfisher – Bishops Palace, Wells, Somerset, UK. ID IMG_3247

Next, the light was much better but the picture is out of focus, and there is a lot of movement blur. But with and f8 lens and with dropping light it was not possible to freeze the action with a faster shutter speed.