Sarrat Kingfisher Hide (Cresstyl Farm)
21st January, Sarrat, Hertfordshire
While on a visit to the Watatunga wildlife Park, I met a fellow photographer who had just booked to visit this Kingfisher Hide. I found it on the Cresstyl website.
This is a business that was previously a Watercress Farm in Hertfordshire near Rickmansworth, which is now had to diversify since the waters feeding the watercress farm had become too polluted and they were stopped from trading. Part of this diversification is that they now have a Hide set up on the riverbank at which they get Kingfishers visiting on a regular basis.
The Hide is basic. However, it is only a two minute walk from the car park and there is an adjacent portaloo. The Hide has space for three photographers, with a shelf equipped with tripod plates and gimbals. A variety of perches are available to get some variety in the shots. The , Kingfisher, on this day a female, was a regular visitor for the first hour and a half of the day. I was able to get some nice perching shots and some shots as the bird dived off its perch. The bird was diving into a container containing small fish that had been captured from the stream earlier in the morning. Unfortunately, the container was hidden from view and there was no way of capturing water level shots of the Kingfisher diving into and taking off out of the water.
Clearly, this was reflected in the fee, being £40 compared for instance to the Wildlife , Kingfisher pond at Bourne in Lincolnshire, where they charge £120 although that is all day.
The morning was very foggy and it took approximately an hour and a half for the mist to clear. This made for some moody images with a very out of focus background. But this necessitated high ISO numbers due to the low level of light.
Overall, this was an okay experience for the money and I have booked to return later in March to give it another try.
