Kingfisher: Tales from the Halcyon River

by Charlie Hamilton-James, Charlie Hamilton-James

The Kingfisher is notoriously difficult to photograph, which makes Kingfisher, Tales from the Halycon River all the more remarkable. From a hide attached to his home by a West Country river, and from a number of vantage points along the same river, Charlie Hamilton James has watched and photographed kingfishers for literally thousands of hours. Written in diary form, it covers the kingfishers' habits season by season and describes them with real intimacy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Birds

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One man's life-long obsession transformed into a beautiful book. The stunning photographs are a given but they also give an insight into the temperament of the bird, and the challenges of being an obsessed wildlife photographer and film maker.

I thought I might be irritated by the diversion into kingfishers worldwide but I wasn't - it was a normal part of Hamilton-James' working life (indeed he missed an opportunity to portray certain common events at home), more stunning photographs (yeah but our kingfishers are still the best, haha) and more insights. I don't think I knew that camouflage was banned in Zimbabwe!

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an stunning bird photography book focused on the common kingfisher's annual life cycle on a little stream in Britain. The author has studied and photographed his local kingfishers for his whole life and has amazing shots and perspective on behavior. There are diving shots, underwater shots, and nest shots that are all amazing. He sets up the book as a year on the river and related the changes in behavior as the year progresses. Two chapters are dedicated to overseas kingfishers which are photographed by the author when he is on filming trips overseas. The text of the book discusses the kingfisher's behavior and the challenges in photographing the birds so it is enjoyable if you have an interest in nature photography. This is a fabulous book and I highly recommend it, but there are several things it is not which should be clear.

It is not a field guide to kingfishers or a reference for the kingfisher family. It is not a scientific reference though there are really detailed behavior observations included. It has very little information about any kingfisher species other than the common kingfisher. It is a beautiful piece of photographic art that is an asset to any obsessive birder's library.

[Paulfozz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book, both for its stunning photography and for the descriptive text. I loved the insights into the world of the Kingfisher and the sense of following Charlie and his family in watching their local Kingfishers. I am very jealous of their being able to watch Kingfishers and Otters from the kitchen window!

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book of photographs of kingfishers, both those in the UK and some abroad, accompanied by Charlie Hamilton-James's narrative about his love for the brids and how he got his remarkable shots.

Absolutely gorgeous, with something to cheer you up on even the darkest of days.

[Wendy Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fabulous book , full of great information on our little blue beauties as well as a set of truly amazing photos.