![\"western-kingbird-2662\"](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/western-kingbird-2662.jpg\" "\\"western-kingbird-2662\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a01\/500, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0The kingbird has spotted prey on the ground<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n \u00a0so it flew down to retrieve it.\u00a0 In this case it happened to be a beetle.\u00a0 You can see it clinging upside down to the darker diagonal twig just in front of the bird.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n \u00a0Here’s a highly cropped version of the previous image to show the beetle better.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n The bird grabbed the beetle but as you can see it had reached “through” the twig to get it<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n so it got more than it\u00a0bargained for.\u00a0 The\u00a0end of the twig broke off and\u00a0wedged between the beetles abdomen and the upper\u00a0mandible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1000, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n So it flew back to its wire perch and tried to figure out what to do about the dilemma.\u00a0 It actually spent about 15 seconds just sitting there and staring at what was in its bill.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0swear it\u00a0looked for all the world like it was actually trying to think its way through this quandary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1000, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n \u00a0 Eventually it began to vigorously shake its head, as it’s doing here, in an apparent attempt to dislodge the twig from its beak.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/2000, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n But as is so often the case, the best-laid plans of mice and men (and kingbirds apparently) often go astray and it wasn’t the twig that went flying, but the beetle instead.\u00a0 I’m always amazed at the visual\u00a0agility\u00a0of birds – it seems to me that this kingbirds eyes are focused on the beetle as it sailed through the air.\u00a0\u00a0If so it’s an impressive feat to be able to track it so soon after shaking its head so hard.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n But this kingbird wasn’t ready to give up on its snack.\u00a0\u00a0 Here the bird is looking at the beetle where it fell to the ground several feet below.\u00a0 It dropped the twig (I missed the shot when it fell)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1000, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n and\u00a0flew down to retrieve the beetle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/p>\n \u00a0It then looked back up at the wire perch<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n