![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/belted-kingfisher-8887c-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"belted-kingfisher-8887c-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nI actually believe this male kingfisher is finally beginning to accept my presence. Or at least tolerate it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n When I first started seeing him this spring he would invariably flee the area if he was present at one of his favorite fishing spots when I approached, usually scolding me as he flew off. But over the last couple of months he’s slowly become much more tolerant. I actually believe he recognizes my pickup and accepts it, or at least tolerates it.<\/p>\n This is him two days ago in the mountains. On that morning I photographed him for 11 minutes as he fished from a variety of perches and I never heard his nervous chatter a single time, which in my experience with kingfishers is highly unusual. He just went about his business before eventually flying off at a time chosen by him instead of by me.<\/p>\n For this shot he actually perched close to me on an old snag with a relatively clean background and in good light. He’s still wet from his last dive and a recent bath. I took over 300 photos of him preening after his very brief bath but for those shots he was further away and the setting was cluttered with branches.<\/p>\n It takes a relaxed kingfisher to preen for that long with a vehicle relatively close by and a big lens pointed his way.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Earlier that morning I got a single takeoff shot of him that I like. He’d been fishing from this low branch over the water when he took off for a much higher fishing perch. I caught him in a takeoff posture I like, the light’s good and at least most of the background is attractive green vegetation rather than the usual jumble of branches and twigs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is going to sound crazy but I’m so used to the rattling call of kingfishers when I’m nearby, often as they’re fleeing the area, that his excited chattering was playing in my head for much of the time I was photographing him. For whatever reason I was providing the chattering call that he was reluctant to supply himself. In fact I hear it in my head as I type these final words of today’s post.<\/p>\n I’ve become ‘kingfisher conditioned’, that’s for sure.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I actually believe this male kingfisher is finally beginning to accept my presence. Or at least tolerate it.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/belted-kingfisher-8427-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"belted-kingfisher-8427-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n