“Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter.”
I thought of this quote by Ansel Adams today. I was standing by the edge of the same pond I talked about in my last post (I am so addicted to this place!) and a Belted Kingfisher flew by and landed on a limb overlooking the water. It was the first time I had seen one up close and in person. He lingered long enough that I was able to snap several pictures.
You can tell this is a male because he only has a blue “belt.” The female would have an extra belt of a rusty-orange color.
As the name implies, these birds are expert fishermen. After graciously allowing me to take his picture, this fellow darted headfirst into the water and then flew off with a small fish. Wish I could have captured that! Maybe next time. For now, here’s one final photo.
Backyard Bird Nerd 
Congratulations Kathy with your first Kingfisher and wow what a brilliant set, beautiful detail and pin sharp, I’ll look forward to seeing more of this wonderful bird from yourself in the future.
Thanks! I will definitely be on the look out for him. It was a treat to get to take his picture.
Fantastic!! What a rare and wonderful opportunity. Weren’t you just saying you needed a bigger lens? I guess not. You don’t often get to appreciate some of the finer features of animals without having them in your hand, but your shots show a couple of things I did not know about kingfishers. For example, they seem to have very short tongues, unless this bird had somehow retracted his tongue to the back of its throat. And what about that white eyespot between its eye and bill. I wonder if the bird uses it to aim its dive on underwater prey. Really wonderful photos Kathy.
I think God took pity on me and had the Kingfisher land close so I would stop bemoaning my lack of zoom! When I first saw him through the camera, I thought the white spot was his eye…wasn’t til I downloaded the pictures that I realized it was feathers. I’ll bet your right, that it somehow aids him in aiming his dive. I’ll bet the shape of his tongue somehow plays a part in that shrill call he has.
You would love the pond that I am exploring – it is right up your alley. So thankful my nice neighbor is letting me invade her backyard!
Wow what an awesome blessing and a great series of photos! We see kingfishers often in northern Michigan but they are usually either perched way too far away or zooming over the surface of the lake at a high rate of speed! 🙂
I have seen them at a distance before, but never this close. I was thrilled. And was glad he stuck around long enough for me to snap some photos becuase you’re right, when they decide to fly they are fast!