Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Belted Kingfisher

A close encounter with this Kingfisher was a complete surprise as I was a little shocked to find it fishing a small ditch. I drove past him, gasped, turned around, waited for traffic to clear, and then approached. He was a great model! (I blew out the whites a bit, forgetting to clear my settings from the previous shoot...Doh!)



The kingfisher species is one of only a few, where the female is more brightly colored than the male.

14 comments:

Tina said...

Hannibal,
You are really getting some fantastic shots..I can't tell you how many times I have tried to keep up with the flitting kingfisher to get a decent photo..and never reached my goal. This is top quality..glad you stopped and turned around!!
A winning combination for sure..the new camera and that great artistic eye of yours!!

Chris said...

Hi Hannibal,
Wow this shot is fantastic. The attitude and the bird are very beautiful, and the shot well done. I love it!!

NatureStop said...

Amazing shot!!

abb said...

That new camera of yours is certainly working well!

Richard said...

Go ahead and keep taunting me with great pictures of my nemesis birds.

Peggy said...

Thanks everyone! I am quite impressed with the lens, and am thrilled with the first few outings with my shiny new baby. Birdgirl is correct, it is a Canon 300mm L f/2.8 IS prime. Thanks again for all of your very supportive comments!

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

You have a great photo here.A unique place for a Kingfisher to sit.
Blessings,Ruth

fotoshooter43 said...

I have tried for a long time to get a closeup of one of these guys, This is fantastic.

jalynn01 said...

It feels so good to finally get a bird like this close up and in detail. You did it and he is beautiful there on the barbed wire! Great eye, great shot and great bird.

Montanagirl said...

Fantastic photo!

Nick S said...

Wow lucky you ! They usually fly straight away ! He turned out very nice.

Shelley said...

Best shot I've ever seen of the Kingfisher!! Looks like he's smiling at you too!! :-)

Eve said...

You can really hear them too Hannibal! This is wonderful!

Marsha said...

I too am so happy you turned around - what a beauty he is!