Belted Kingfisher Bolting Out of Burrow.

[Daniel Cadieux]

A local birding friend alerted me to this kingfisher spot, and boy does it look like it will be productive. Both parents are coming in with fish, so the young are hatched. They are quite skittish though and major concealment is needed - in this case heavy camo netting plus vegetation and tall grasses blended into and over it. Here we see the male darting out (they dart in and out so fast) with a small clump of dirt after having brought in a minnow.

Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/2000s., f/6.3, ISO 800, natural light, handheld (sitting with lens barrel braced on raised knees), cropped for comp, a couple of offending debris items removed from the façade of the mound. Dodged the shadows a bit underneath the belly and wing.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Daniel, a belter of an image, timing spot on. Techs look good and I love the slight wing tip blur. Well positioned in frame, although perhaps a sliver more below, WDYT? Another new project waiting in the wings I guess .

TFS
Steve

[Grace Scalzo]

Impressive photography! They are so fast. Looking forward to the evolution of this story. More room below is a good idea.

[Joe Galkowski]

Another example of perfect timing. Wow. Great image. I always seem to be looking for ways to simplify images, and I couldn't help but wonder if you tried cropping it tighter to eliminate the vegetation on the left completely.

[Binu John]

Excellent shot, Daniel! Perfect timing to capture this beautiful pose! TFS

[Karl Egressy]

Perfect timing great sharpness. Nice to have a site close to you, Daniel.

[John Robinson]

Nice one Daniel
Harsh light handled well. Spot on timing- and how todays rapid firing cameras have helped !!
Great stuff.
John

[Pamela de Zilva]

Daniel, This is the quality of photography that I aspire to. As a mere mortal I'd like to say EXCELLENT work. Looking forward to seeing more KF's. Pamela

[David Salem]

Nice looking take off shot Daniel. I like the detail in this and the dirt clod in the beak adds interest. Looks like a good place to set up camp for a morning. Hope you get some cool keepers soon. Nice capture

[christopher galeski]

it's all been said Daniel,very nice capture,agree with Steve,may be a bit more on bottom of frame.

[gail bisson]

Great shot Daniel and I love the mud clump in the mouth.
Gail