Small Wonder

I’m so chuffed that there is at least one kingfisher regularly fishing a patch of the canal near me. There may even be a pair. I think this one is a female, as there is orange on her lower beak. I tried to capture her in flight and managed a couple of shots of her skimming over the water.

Kingfishers can zip along at 25 miles per hour! I had a very fast shutter speed on to try and capture it in flight. These are my first successful flight shots. Lots more practice needed though!

I lost sight of it but a passer by pointed out to my husband and I. Even then I couldn’t see it at first, then when I did photograph it opposite me it’s come out a bit blurry. So I vowed to go back and try and get more photos.

The canal had some thin layers of ice on it this morning. The mallards and moorhens were skidding a little on it.

I thought perhaps the kingfisher would be looking for its breakfast elsewhere, but no, it appeared and I saw it dive off branches into the water a couple of times.

I’ve been spotted too!

It got a bit drookit after its splashdown. I think this one is male, as its beak seems to be all black. So maybe there is a pair here.

He later went to sit in some sunshine. Here his chest is has lovely bronze and golden hues as it catches the sunlight. If only that trailing thorn branch wasn’t in the way!

Before I could get a better shot he was off again. Here is an un-cropped photo which shows just how small kingfishers are. But much easier to see this time of year once the foliage has died back.

Although some autumn leaves do good kingfisher impersonations. I don’t know how many leaves I’ve zoomed in on.

Wow! Such a small wonder!