Friday Bird Blogging: The Belted Kingfisher

For years, I tried to get good pictures of kingfishers, but with very little luck. They will stand still for long periods, but not always where they're easy to spot, and when in motion they fly -very- quickly. This particular shot is a favorite of mine, not for the quality of the images, but for the fact that I managed to get a series of shots which capture a specific moment. When the kingfisher sees prey in the water, it will fly directly above the prey and simply hover, flapping quickly while it prepares for a dive. Then it drops directly down into the water and, if all goes as planned, plucks a fish out and flies out with its meal. What you see here is the "before" picture. My next plan is to get a picture of the kingfisher the moment -after- it gets is prey, with fish in hand (or, technically, beak).