Biting Off More Than You Can Chew...Belted Kingfisher at Lake Washington

Here's a bird that was too successful. This Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) hit the pot of gold, enough fish to feed it for days, but...how to consume it?

I was on a walk along the shore of Lake Washington at Gene Coulon Park early one morning in June when I spotted the poor bird and its problem of too much in the way of riches. I wonder if there is some metaphor here about income inequality or something?

Most of the time the bird leaves while I'm snapping pictures. This time I watched and watched and videoed the poor bird and it never solved its conundrum. There was a Bald Eagle nearby...I'm sure it would have offered a solution to the problem.

A Wily Belted Kingfisher on the Tuolumne River

The effort continues...these are hard birds to catch in a photograph! I see Belted Kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon) on a fairly regular basis during my walks on the Tuolumne River, but they are extremely skittish around human beings. They will stay in place if they happen to be across the river from me, but they don't stay at all still if I happen upon them on the north shore of the river. They'll fly away immediately, unleashing a torrent of bird profanities that make my ears burn and sailors blush (really, you should hear them chattering in anger).

In any case, I had a lucky moment last week and saw the Kingfisher before it saw me, and I was able to get one of the better shots that I've achieved. It's still a bit fuzzy, so I'm going to keep at it. This one is a female, as evidenced by the presence of the chestnut banding.

A Belted Kingfisher Duo on the Tuolumne River

Belted Kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon) have been a regular sight on the Tuolumne Parkway trail over the last couple of years, but they have been very skittish. I might be a hundred yards away, but they'll take off and start hurling Belted Kingfisher obscenities in my direction. Photography has been really tricky.

This morning, though, they weren't nearly so upset when I appeared on the section of the trail overlooking the river. A pair of females were perched on a large tree branch, and even though I was maybe only 150 feet away, they hung around. They didn't fly off until I turned to walk on down the trail.

The rust colored feathers on the breast indicate the female. The males have a white breast.

Belted Kingfishers at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge and the Tuolumne River

I don't get a lot of sharp focused pictures of Belted Kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon). Just like any smart bird, they like to steer clear of humans (or at least me), especially those that patrol the Tuolumne River along the Parkway Trail in Waterford. I hear them constantly, chattering and complaining about me disturbing their territory. But I rarely get close enough for pictures.

We were at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge on two successive weekends, and along the Waterfowl Auto-tour, I saw the same Kingfisher perched on the wires above the irrigation canal at the south boundary of the refuge. The first weekend was overcast, and the picture (as usual) was a bit fuzzy, but the next weekend was sunny, and I finally got a picture I liked (at the top). The chestnut band across the chest marks this one as a female.

Later that week, I was on my usual river walk when I heard the familiar chatter coming from the inaccessible thickets at the western end of the trail. I spotted the male from the top of the stairwell and got this one relatively good shot, but by the time I got to the base of the stairs, it had flown away downstream.

Belted Kingfisher on the Tuolumne River

I've been having a battle of wits (twits? tweets?) this week with a pair of Belted Kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon). I've been waking up earlier than usual this week (a residual of my recent field trip), so I've been heading down to the Tuolumne River Parkway Trail to see what kinds of birds and other animals might be about (I had a nice encounter with a Red Fox yesterday). For three days in a row, I inadvertently flushed out a pair of Kingfishers who flew away downriver to places unknown (I don't like to harass birds, but I was just walking the trail). Each successive morning I approached more slowly with the camera ready, but they were just too wary. It happened again this morning and they flew off and I walked on. A few minutes later though, I heard that staccato call of a Kingfisher in the tree above, and for a split second, the bird was yelling at me, and I got one shot before it flew off.

Later, at the end of my hike, I was approaching the area where they've been hanging out, and once again I crept ahead slowly and saw the Kingfisher again. I squeezed off about eight shots, one of which was sharp enough to use. Of all the birds I've seen on the Tuolumne, the Kingfishers have been among the most challenging to photograph.

That's not to say that I don't have other challenges. It was quite a day...I saw a Western Tanager, a Bullocks Oriole, an Oak Titmouse and a Green Heron, and of them all, I got exactly no pictures. So I shall sally forth, again and again, until I get the perfect picture of all of them!

Belted Kingfisher at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

I've seen the Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) a few times on my trail along the Tuolumne River, but they've kept their distance, and it has been fairly hard to get clear pictures. We were headed home from the holiday travels, and noted previously, we stopped at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in the Central Valley of California. We were excited to see a pair of Bald Eagles while we were there, and thought the birding was over with when we got back to the visitor center at the end of the auto-tour. And wouldn't you know, there was a Belted Kingfisher hanging out around the pond at the visitor center!

I got a couple of fairly decent shots, although they are still a bit fuzzy at the distance. The brown-colored breast feathers indicate a female (one of the few birds in which the females are more brightly colored).

A Pair of Belted Kingfishers on the Tuolumne River

It's been a battle of wits and tweets. I've known there were Belted Kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon) on the Tuolumne River. As a species, the bird is common all across North America, and the Tuolumne River where I live is excellent habitat, providing good fishing, lots of riparian vegetation for perching, and high dirt banks that are perfect for digging nesting burrows. I've even seen them a couple of times, perched along the section of the river where I've seen otters a few times now. But so far there was nothing to show in terms of photography. They've been too far away and unfocused in the few pictures I've attempted.

I was back on the river today making my usual trek along the Tuolumne Parkway Trail, and I made my way down to the banks of the river to a favorite sitting spot (I've seen both otters and raccoons from here recently). There was a lot of chattering in the trees, but I couldn't quite see who was responsible.

This is the last thing a fish sees sometimes...

Before long it was clear that the noisemakers were a pair of Belted Kingfishers. I'm not sure they were excited about me in particular because they were patrolling a large section of the river downstream, flying back and forth, perching briefly, and then patrolling again.

Once in a while they landed close enough to snap a few okay shots from a distance of about 200-300 feet. The pair were male and female. Kingfishers are one of the few bird species in which the female is more brightly colored. The male has a plain white breast (with the black "belt" near the neck). The females (top photo) have some rusty bands as well.

I waited for some time, and they teased me by coming closer and perching in a nearby tree that made focusing a bit harder (it'll work one of these times!). Finally, I needed to get going so I started walking back downstream. As if to tease me, the female landed on the tree snag practically over my head and posed for a single shot, the one that appears at the top of the post. And then they flew off again, chattering and twittering away.