Male Belted Kingfisher, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wildlife Preserve, Iowa
Long time readers know that I always called this beautiful bird ”the bastard”, due to the fact that I have been on the chase for a decent picture of a Belted Kingfisher since a long time. They are very skittish and often fly away before you even have a chance to aim the lens at them. During a short trip to the Green Island wetlands yesterday afternoon I finally had this male kingfisher even twice in front of my lens. First it was placed on one of the bowls that are provided as nesting places for Canada Geese. They are placed in the water, getting closer was not an option, but at least I made some sharp images.
A little bit later I saw the same bird sitting on a branch just beside the gravel road and this time the kingfisher didn’t fly away, even when I moved slowly right next to the tree with the car. There is still room for improvement since the light was a little too harsh for my taste but I think I should stop calling him ”the bastard” after the jinx is broken now…
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S