I came around a corner in my kayak and there was a Belted Kingfisher on a branch right in front of me. My camera was still in the dry bag so I backed up in hopes it would stay where it was while I got my camera out. Of course, it didn't, but it didn't move too far. I gradually worked my way closer, taking photos along the way.
Suddenly it was gone from the view finder. It had flown away and I hadn't seen where it went this time. I started to leave, but then I figured it probably would have just moved to another perch further along in the same direction. Sure enough, I spotted it on a signpost.
Belted Kingfishers are one of the few birds where the female is more colorful than the male - with a chestnut stripe across her chest. That would make this one a male.
They are often noisy birds with a loud chattering call. Because of this, a group is call a "rattle" or a "kerfuffle". For a change, this one was completely silent. There don't seem to be many around, so maybe this is the same one I heard and glimpsed last week.
Belted Kingfishers are the only kingfishers we get in Canada. In Saskatchewan they would have migrated south during the winter, but here on the west coast they stay year round.
[Update 2023-07-30] I was photographing seals (from the shore) when I noticed this kingfisher on a piling. Judging by the chestnut stripe this would be a female. She stayed on her perch for as long as I was there. I wonder if she had been preening, given the down in her beak.
Olympus 100-400 plus 1.4x teleconverter (1120mm equivalent, handheld)
No comments:
Post a Comment