The Belted Kingfisher (see yesterday’s post) and the Eastern Kingbird use sometimes the same trees and bushes when they perch and look out for food. Although their diet is totally different. They both prefer branches or trees that hang over the water or are at least near to it. While the kingfisher mainly preys on small fish that swim near the surface of the water, the Eastern Kingbird is a large flycatcher and feeds on insects and fruits. Quite often they return to the same perch after pouncing for food on the ground or on the water surface.
Last night I witnessed the take over of a tree by a kingfisher. It was actually used as a perch by a kingbird but there was no doubt who had the longer bill and ruled the area. The Eastern Kingbird took off immediately…
This shot was taken at 6:22 pm last night and the sun was already getting low. However, because of its intense power at this time of the year I had a hard time to contain the highlights. I had dialed in -1 EV for exposure compensation already but still had to bring down the highlights in post process to make this image work. This is a simple task in Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW but I usually don’t fiddle around with tones and colors in my wildlife photography. Well, sometimes there is an exception to this self-imposed rule. I really like the gesture of this Eastern Kingbird in the photo and that’s why I show it to you today… :-)