kingfishers... whats the deal?!?!

The members of this site have immense knowledge.
Thanks all.

Here is one I took a while back - no cropping or editing just the RAW file scaled (and J Peged) for web.

To second what has been said, thanks for posting the info a;;

This is something I have wanted to do for some time now.
Guess my first step is finding some in a "safe" area!

I gave up on the baiting in Nov last year, only did it because the river level was so high, he wouldn't have got food for over a week. DOn't do it now because I don't feel it necessary.

I have a license for the nest site where I am but haven't been back to it for over a month because I felt it wasn't thrilling enough. I like chasing them up and down the river and looking for their landing spots.

I was hiding behind a fallen tree trunk when I got this shot. Sure it was back lit but sometimes when you're 15ft away you just need to take a few shots anyway

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Nice shot of the KF handing (beaking) over the fish - Paulstw!
I don't have a licence so avoid nests, though I did make a mistake on one of my very first expeditions. The birds seemed to behave quite naturally so my camouflage must have been good! However I re-scouted the area the following day and spotted the nest, so I promptly avoided the area - we all make mistakes! I then moved about 1/3 mile downstream, set up a perch and got better results.
P.S. I wish my lens could focus as close as 15ft! I will just have to make do with 19.7ft (when I am lucky!).

King fishers are a fairly habitual species. Often preferring the same perches and cycling them daily. If the bird is limited to one watershed, and that watershed only has one stream it feeds in, then you can often observe this pattern of behavior over a series of several days. This will require patience and many hours of long distance observation. But in the end, you can maximize your perch time using this method.

Once you have found the perches that the bird uses most often, come in the early morning before light and set up. The vast majority of simpler minded animals (which excludes larger brained mammals like deer, elk, bear, otter, and cougar) "reset" their memory of locations when the sun rises. This allows for you to blend in without them observing a new situation.

You mentioned you have a poncho. That throw cannot move. Kingfishers have incredible eyesight, your best bet would be a shelled hide which you or it cannot move or be seen.

Best of luck