My first kingfisher in a very long time.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Yesterday morning I was photographing other birds when this male Belted Kingfisher flew in to do a little fishing. He fished from a variety of perches, some of them close to me but more often he was further away. I was able to photograph him taking off several times but most of his fishing perches were cluttered with branches so the settings and backgrounds were busy and distracting.
While I was with him this was the cleanest fishing perch he used but he wasn’t very close to me so I had to crop these images significantly, resulting in some loss of image quality. I still like the photos well enough to post them.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This is the next photo in the burst as he dove after a fish. I very rarely get a perfectly clean background like this in a photo of a kingfisher in flight.
I’ll be posting more photos of him at a later date but as usual I have a backlog of culling and processing to do before that can happen.
I was highly impressed with his fishing skills. In the 17 minutes I spent with him he caught and consumed at least five and possibly six small fish. When he finally left the area I’m convinced that the reason he left wasn’t the clueless photographer who got out of his car and walked back and forth along the road in repeated efforts to get as close to the kingfisher as possible.
Instead, I think the reason he left was because he was full after eating a half dozen fish in such a short time.
Ron
Great they are back! I like the colors in the background, so much nicer than the usual clutter that is difficult to avoid.
Thanks, April. I agree with you about the background.
Happy Birthday.
And hooray for a well fed king fisher. And yet another delightful series.
Thanks, EC. Getting old beats the alternative I guess.
Happy Birthday, Ron! 🎉🎂 Woot! Woot! 👏👏
These are coolamatious shots! He looks like a fighter plane, especially in the 2nd shot. It’s also interesting to me how different the markings and coloration of his primaries are. Plus, alulae! 🙂
Happy Mothers’ Day to everyone.
Good eye on the alulae, Marty.
Like most birthdays in recent years I’ll be glad to get this one behind me. But not too far behind…
Showing a bird in its habitat is normally a good thing, I think. However, I’m drawn to the second photo because the Kingfisher could be anywhere. Sort of Plato’s ideal of a Belted Kingfisher.
Lyle, I like the bicolored background in that second shot.
Spectacular, Ron! So sharp and perfect.
Nancy, it’s nice to be getting sharp images again. At least most of the time.
He ignored you because he considered you his bringer of good fortune. That’s a great spot to be able to catch that many in the same place. In that second shot he looks like a bullet. Nice color, good background, and sharp. Excellent photo, and as you say, hard to get a completely clear shot of a diving Kingfisher without something in the background.
Happy Mother’s Day to all you Feather Photography mothers.
Everett, I was surprised but he pretty much DID ignore me. Pretty unusual for a kingfisher in my experience. He even ignored the photographer on foot which is even more unusual.
Very nice! That catch light really stands out with him. I heard one the other day in my travels but he never showed himself. I did purchase the book “Mell Fell’, that one of your readers mentioned recently in a response to a post. Very cute story about a baby kingfisher falling out of a tree into a river…my grandson loved it but was concerned about the little fish she caught.
Sounds like a great book for kids, Kathy. Thank you.
Cool! Getting a clean shot in flight IS a major challenge – SO explosive when they go! Glad he ate well and the “distraction” that was probably clueless didn’t cause his leaving… 😉
We’ve actually gotten about 2″ of rain in the past 2 days! YES! 🙂
Thanks, Judy. I saw a FB post this morning that showed snow somewhere near Bozeman.