Hello! This is Ootake Camera. Here is the Crested Kingfisher Shooting Base Report for 7/1.
3:50 AM — First arrival of the day
This morning a bird arrived very early — so early that one was already perched on branch #3 while we were still setting up. Quite a scramble! (sweat)
Around 4:40, another arrival at branch #3 — a clean catch, fish beaten against the branch, and straight off to the chicks. The chick-rearing is going well by all appearances.
5:02 — the female arrived and landed on branch #3, then moved to #1 to scan for prey. But then something unexpected: what appeared to be another fish-eating bird came through and disturbed the fish, leaving the area empty — and off she went, empty-beaked. ^^; Shortly after, another female passed by, but it was clearly a different individual. This was likely the intruder behind yesterday’s territorial dispute — a sharp observation, and thank you to Mr./Ms. S-mura for catching that!
5:21 — the male arrived again and landed on branch #3, but still no fish to be found, likely due to the earlier disturbance. Goodbye for now. ^^;
7:11 — the male returned to branch #3 and this time put on a splendid hunt! Straight back to the chicks with the catch. Hard-working dad — keep it up!!!
8:01 — the male arrived once more, looked set to land on #3 but made a sudden U-turn to the opposite bank, then came back to #3, coughed up a pellet, and attempted another dive — but missed this time. ^^; He then flew upstream and that was the end of the session. Overall, the male and female alternated arrivals roughly every 30 minutes; when only one was coming, it was about every hour.
Thank you so much to everyone who joined us today! ^^
Perches used
Today the birds used branches #3, #1, and #5.
The chick-rearing season has now reached its peak!
Arrival frequency is on the rise — this is the season with the most opportunities for observation and photography. At the Aizu Secret Base, we share real-time field conditions like these every day.
If you are interested in photographing Crested Kingfishers, please also visit our Yamasemi Guide Page and Availability Calendar.
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| ◆ Current Guide Availability | Status | Meeting Time | Departure Time |
| Crested Kingfisher | Accepting Reservations |
2:45–3:00 |
3:00 |
| Mountain Hawk-Eagle | Accepting Reservations | 6:15–6:25 | 6:30 |
| Ruddy Kingfisher | Closed |
※Sessions are held rain or shine. A tent-style hide is planned for Crested Kingfisher and Ruddy Kingfisher tours.