![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/belted-kingfisher-9406-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"belted-kingfisher-9406-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nAnd a close to perfect landing spot.<\/p>\n
It’s been a while since I had any luck with my favorite Belted Kingfisher but yesterday morning he came through for me once again.<\/p>\n
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1\/5000, 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 I had little hope for quality action shots while he was fishing from this cluttered branch hanging over the edge of the pond because there’d probably be twigs in front of him if he dove on a fish. And if he took off for another fishing perch he’d likely take off away from me.<\/p>\n But he fooled me, big time, and you’re about to see why. When he eventually took off he came roughly in my direction and away from the water. I figured he was about to leave the area entirely but I was happy with this flight shot taken soon after he took off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, 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 Instead of leaving the area he landed on this branch very close to me. He was so close I had to remove my teleconverter and even then I felt I needed to shoot vertically with many of my shots in order to keep him from being too tight in the frame. This is the closest I’ve ever been to a Belted Kingfisher, a species notorious for their skittish behavior.<\/p>\n I have no idea why he landed here unless it was a deliberate attempt to check me and my pickup out from up close. I believe he was too far away from the water for it to be an effective fishing perch.<\/p>\n As a photographer I loved his choice of perches. Kingfishers typically perch on dead branches or snags with few if any leaves to obstruct their view of the water below. Those types of perches may be effective for fishing but they’re often cluttered with dead branches (like the previous shot above) that don’t provide an aesthetic setting for photography.<\/p>\n But in this photo he’s framed beautifully by the leaves and twigs around him and the background behind the bird is clean except for a single out-of-focus clump of leaves that doesn’t bother me. The biggest problem I had with him on this perch was shadows from twigs that often crossed the top of his head or his bill but in this pose there are no annoying shadows on the bird.<\/p>\n These two photos only scratch the surface of the nice collection of photos he allowed me to take yesterday. I’m sure I’ll be posting a few more of them sometime down the road.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And a close to perfect landing spot.<\/p>\n It’s been a while since I had any luck with my favorite Belted Kingfisher but yesterday morning he came through for me once again.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/belted-kingfisher-9452c-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"belted-kingfisher-9452c-ron-dudley\\"")
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