![\"belted](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/belted-kingfisher-3020b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI’ve been after quality images of Belted Kingfishers for years with very little success. Until yesterday.<\/p>\n
Given the situation it’s ironic that I was successful. After so many years of\u00a0trying so hard with kingfishers my only goal yesterday was to test my lens after repair so when the sun finally peeked out of the fog for a while I visited an area near the Jordan River where the only opportunities are usually with domestic ducks and coots – all I needed was feathered test subjects. A short while after I started shooting ducks\u00a0a chattering female\u00a0Belted Kingfisher appeared in the trees across the water\u00a0but at first\u00a0she was too far away and too deeply\u00a0buried in the branches for quality images.<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I believe I owe my success with the kingfisher\u00a0to a marauding Cooper’s Hawk. More than other raptors, accipiters are potential predators of kingfishers and when the Cooper’s swooped in twice through the trees where the kingfisher was\u00a0she was very upset.\u00a0As soon as the hawk left she moved across the water and\u00a0did her fishing\u00a0from trees very close to me. Thank you, Coop!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Her fishing technique was intense. She would stare down at the water for a long time before she spotted a small fish near the surface and\u00a0then\u00a0take\u00a0off after it. Usually I clipped wings when she launched and this time was no exception.<\/p>\n In this shot I enjoy the good look at the conspicuous and\u00a0ragged double-pointed crest and that white spot in front of the eye – characteristic features of both sexes. I know this bird to be a female because of the rufous band across the lower breast. At some angles the white spot in front of the\u00a0eye can be visually confusing to the viewer because it\u00a0often appears to be a misplaced catch light in the eye but with this close up view and head angle there is no confusion.<\/p>\n These two images are only the tip of the iceberg. I have many behavioral\u00a0and flight shots of her,\u00a0some of which\u00a0I’ll be posting in the future, but at this point\u00a0my culling and processing chores loom in front of me first.<\/p>\n Regular readers know that as a photographer I define a “nemesis species” as one I don’t have high\u00a0quality images of and want very badly\u00a0(rather than one I haven’t seen). For years my two primary nemesis birds have been the Golden Eagle and the Belted Kingfisher so I was ecstatic to cross the kingfisher off my list. It’s probably inappropriate to imply (in my title) that I have “conquered” the kingfisher but in my enthusiasm for my success I’m leaving it be.<\/p>\n Golden Eagle, here I come…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve been after quality images of Belted Kingfishers for years with very little success. Until yesterday.<\/p>\n![\"belted](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/belted-kingfisher-2755-ron-dudley.jpg\")
1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n