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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n She flew in close to me right at the beginning of my time with her and hunted from this relatively clean perch for quite a while.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Soon it became obvious that she was trying to cast a pellet. She retched like this several times but throwing a pellet is hard work and she wasn’t successful while she was on this perch.<\/p>\n Can you imagine how many fish have met their demise sliding down that gaping throat?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I had a clean look at her on her next perch but she was much further away so these last images have been cropped significantly. Soon she began retching again so I fired off another burst but when it was over I didn’t know if she had cast a pellet or not because the process is very fast, she was far away and I often miss noticing quick bird behaviors through my lens because of the slapping shutter interfering with what I’m seeing.<\/p>\n When I\u00a0arrived home and reviewed my images I was pleasantly surprised by what I had captured.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Here we see a pellet in the back of the throat and beginning to emerge.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s almost out…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n In this shot I was happy that the pellet has neither the bird or the perch behind it which makes it clearly seen. I also enjoy the shadows of both the upper and lower bill-tips on the perch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the last shot I got of the falling pellet. It’s times like this that I’m appreciative of the fast burst rate of my camera (10 frames\/sec). These last four images were taken in only\u00a0.5 second (I’ve left out one image in the sequence). I’d have missed at least one of these shots with my older Canon 7D.<\/p>\n After the bird left this perch I wished I could retrieve the pellet for inspection but it had fallen into the water. Examining fresh pellets intrigues me (yes, I know about the possibility of them carrying disease), especially when they’re still moist and warm from the bird’s body heat. It’s something I’ve done before – an example can be seen here<\/a> if you’re interested.<\/p>\n Ok, I keep promising to post something other than kingfishers and this time I mean it. Tomorrow’s post will be on another subject.<\/p>\n Probably…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Addendum: Laura Culley and I got into an unrelated but interesting conversation in the comments below about raptors shedding leg scales. She sent me a photo of scale plates that her Red-tailed and Harris’ Hawks have shed – a process that is new to me. I was interested in seeing them and I thought others might be too so I’ve added the photo below. Thank you, Laura.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"belted](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/belted-kingfisher-5519-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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Copyright Laura Culley – Image used by permission<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n