Azure Kingfisher - Daintree, Australia - 1000 post celebration!

[Tony Whitehead]

Small celebration at reaching 1000 posts - not many compared to some but a personal milestone.
This image was captured on the Daintree River, Far North Queensland, Australia. The only good access is by boat and this was captured as we drifted downriver. I would have preferred a better head angle but he was frozen on the mangrove roots in this pose as we drifted by. It was heavy overcast with showers so little light to work with.
Nikon D300
Nikon 200-400 @ 400mm
ISO 800, 1/60 f4 matrix +0
Flash -1.3
All comments and advice appreciated

[Bruce Enns]

Congrats on 1000 Tony! Very beautiful shot...I find the stick poking out the bird's butt distracting and the diagonal branch going off to the left draws me out of the image.

Cheers!
Bruce

[Rene' Villela]

Tony... Hi! This is the first time I see one of these guys! Beautiful bird. It seems you did what you could but too bad about that diagonal branch as Bruce mentioned. Thanks for sharing! Cheers!

[bill kominsky]

Congrats Tony and wish you a 1000 more of the beautiful images you post, thank you so much for sharing, there music to the eye.

Bill

[Jim Neiger]

Very nice capture,Tony. I was there in October and also photographed this species. Did you go with Chris Dahlberg?

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

What a gorgeous little bird Tony. Love the composition in the natural habitat and the excellent color, detail and pose. A big congratulations on your 1000th post.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Congrats Tony - and a lovely image in difficult conditions. Well done on gettingh it sharp and the fill flash really lifted the colours. I guess this is the Australian equivalent of our Malachite Kingfisher (?)

[Doug Brown]

Congrats on your 1000th post Tony! Love the blue of that kingfisher. Great job with the sharpness at 1/60!

[Tony Whitehead]

Very nice capture,Tony. I was there in October and also photographed this species. Did you go with Chris Dahlberg?
Yes, Jim. Chris is the man for the Daintree - very skillful and generous.

[Tony Whitehead]

Congrats Tony - and a lovely image in difficult conditions. Well done on gettingh it sharp and the fill flash really lifted the colours. I guess this is the Australian equivalent of our Malachite Kingfisher (?)
Thanks, Chris. This is similar to the Malachite in terms of behaviour but is a little larger (16-19cm - more the size of a Striped Kingfisher) and more riverine and mangrove in terms of habitat. The Australian Little Kingfisher probably fills the Malachite's niche in relation to vleis.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks, I hope I can get there one day

[Stu Bowie]

Congrats on your 1000th Tony. A milestone in anyone's book. The amazing colours of the KF really stand out against the BG. It feels like you have selected the KF, and done a conversion on the BG. Super sharp, and yes, sure does look like our malachite. Excellent image Tony.

[Juan Aragonés]

Tony congratulations for the 1000th post. i like to read your critics and coments a lot and your work here is much apreciated :-)

[Mark Schmitt]

Congratualtions on 1000th. The blues take on an demensional quality: I suspect as a result of the flash. It is a splendid bird. Well caught.